(updated with details)
PARIS, July 9 (Reuters) – TotalEnergies announced on Saturday that the external power supply to the Feyzin site, near Lyon, was cut in the morning and that a crisis unit had been activated.
The power cut on the site took place at 06:45 (04:45 GMT) before being put back into service at 07:58 on one of the two lines supplying the platform, the group said in a press release, adding that the electrical substations were gradually returned to service.
A TotalEnergies representative said the outage was likely to impact production at the refinery but it was too early to provide details.
The cause of the failure was not immediately specified.
Gilles Noguerol, the refinery manager, told Reuters that all units at the site had been secured.
For safety reasons, flares were operated to control and evacuate the excess gas, which released thick black smoke, he said.
“I’m not worried about the toxicity (of the smoke),” he said, adding that air quality checks carried out by firefighters did not show abnormal concentrations. (Report Dominique Vidalon, French version Laetitia Volga)