“It is normal for the government to prepare an extreme case” like a load shedding, justified the President of the Republic, who called on the French to show “responsibility”.
The French have the immediate future of their electricity network in their hands. Asked by TF1 during his visit to the United States, Emmanuel Macron wanted to send a reassuring message about the passage of winter, while concern is mounting about possible load shedding in the weeks to come. “Do not panic. It’s no use and it’s not true“, replied the President of the Republic.
Load shedding – these temporary, organized and controlled outages – remain, as they stand, a track “extreme“, on which the executive is working at the moment, explained the head of state, insisting on the aspect”fictionaland improbable of this decision. “It is normal for the government to prepare an extreme case, because […]sometimes the unthinkable happens“, he said, in a reference to the pandemic of Covid-19.
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However, the possibility of resorting to these load shedding remains an avoidable solution: the authorities have many tools to reduce the pressure on the electricity network, such as the drop in voltage or the interruption of the supply of electricity to certain industrialists planned in contracts, before arriving at more general cuts. In addition, this solution can be avoided if the weather is mild, and if the French reduce their electricity consumption, noted Emmanuel Macron: “If, all together, we stick to the sobriety plan […]i.e. reduce by about 10% compared to our usual consumption, if we are all a little careful and EDF continues the work […]then yes, we will be able to pass, even with a cold month of December and January, this period“. The next weeks “[dépendent] from U.S“, concluded the tenant of the Élysée, calling on the French not to panic, and to show instead “responsibility“.
Significant efforts to preserve the electricity network
Recourse to possible load shedding is not expected for several weeks. In the latest update of its winter forecasts, in mid-November, the tricolor electricity network operator, RTE, indicated that “the situation appears less risky in December and from the end of February“, but that January should be particularly tense. “The risk of using the Ecowatt device (and in particular the red alert signal) appears high in January but will largely depend on weather conditions and the possible occurrence of even a moderate cold snap”, warned the company.
For the time being, the efforts of the various players to reduce their consumption are bearing fruit: without them, the delays accumulated in the restarting of nuclear power plants – and in particular because of the strike caused by the CGT at EDF – would have already put the system electrical energized. Last week, RTE noted a 6.4% drop over one month in electricity consumption in France, compared to previous years. But this is mainly concentrated in the industrial sector, which is reducing its activity in the face of soaring prices. A sobriety suffered, and not chosen, in other words. In parallel, “the downward effect in the residential and tertiary sector exists but is more limited“, nuanced the energy specialist.
At the end of the week, the manager therefore again called on certain players, such as offices, head offices and businesses, to step up their efforts to limit the risk of tension on the network. There is “no fatality to have cuts“This winter, hammered the executive director, Thomas Veyrenc, on BFMTV, Saturday. Everything will be fine, if the French continue and step up their efforts, if EDF quickly restarts its power stations and if the winter is not too harsh. A lot of ifs, which make the future very uncertain.