The risk of power cuts reduced to “medium” in January

AA / Paris / Ümit Dönmez

The French manager of high voltage lines, RTE, lowered, on Tuesday, the risk of tensions for the electricity network in January from “high” to “medium”.

In its latest update of its outlook for the electricity system for the next four weeks, the French electricity network operator indicated that “subject to the maintenance of energy saving efforts” on the part of the French, the “evolutions favorable conditions reduce the risk for the security of supply compared to the anticipation of recent months, in particular for the month of January”.

RTE nevertheless stressed that its estimate might be revised “in the event of very unfavorable weather conditions”.

Reporting a drop in electricity consumption over the last four weeks of 9%, including -12% for industry and -7% for the residential and tertiary sectors, the French manager of high voltage lines notes that “France is approaching the heart of winter in a more favorable situation than at the beginning of autumn, and better prepared to face situations of tension”.

In addition to the fall in consumption by the French, RTE explains this development by the recommissioning of a large number of nuclear reactors which has made it possible to reach a national production exceeding 40 gigawatts during the last week, by the reconstitution of the hydraulic stocks during the fall, as well as by the favorable weather in September and October which made it possible to preserve available gas stocks.

In its latest update of its outlook for the electricity system for the next four weeks, RTE also indicates that the probability of using the “red” Ecowatt device by the end of the year is “almost zero”.

This alert from the “French electricity network weather forecast” is set up when the risk of targeted power cuts is very high.

As a reminder, RTE had announced last week that France had had to increase its electricity imports from neighboring countries to be able to cope with higher than expected consumption on Monday 12 December, caused by the cold snap which had hit the country.

Since December 17, temperatures have increased by around fifteen degrees Celsius (°C) on average, across France, with the thermometer showing 13°C in the capital on Tuesday, once morest -6° C, last Saturday.


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Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief

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