FRANCE: RTE FEARS A “TENSED” SITUATION ON THE ELECTRICITY NETWORK MONDAY
PARIS (Reuters) – RTE, the operator of France’s high-voltage electricity network, on Saturday called on households, businesses and communities to moderate their electricity consumption on Monday, saying it feared that the cold wave affecting the country could lead to on a “tense” situation between supply and demand.
“Due to the drop in temperatures, electricity consumption will be high this Monday, April 4, 2022 and could reach 73,000 megawatts (MW) around 09:00. Electricity production should be 65,000 MW, but France should be able to import up to ‘to 11,000 MW”, explains the group in a press release.
“RTE does not, however, envisage a power outage on Monday morning, unless hazards should arise this weekend”, he adds, specifying that he will update his forecasts on Sunday according to the weather forecasts and the level of electricity production.
The operator asks companies and communities to moderate their consumption on Monday, in particular between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., and to households who can to shift their electricity consumption “to this weekend rather than Monday with regard to the use of household appliances (such as dishwashers or washing machines)”.
RTE has maintained in recent months its diagnosis of vigilance in the face of the situation deemed “degraded” of the French electricity production fleet, linked among other things to the unavailability of many nuclear reactors operated by EDF.
(Written by Marc Angrand)