Winter 2022-2023 could lead to load shedding in France. Behind this term hides a simple notion: localized, punctual and supervised power outages.
What is an electrical load shedding?
Electrical load shedding is an operation consisting of temporarily and voluntarily interrupting the power supply to a given sector. It’s like a cut, except that it’s controlled. It is implemented when high voltages are observed on the electrical network to satisfy all demand.
France could experience one or more episodes of power cuts during the winter of 2022-2023, precisely because consumption is too high in relation to national production capacity or import abroad. This is why the population, the administration, the industrialists and everyone are being asked to slow down.
Load shedding is the result of a particular feature of the electrical network: it is impossible to store current on a large scale. Clearly, electricity must be consumed as soon as it is produced, recalls EDF. There must therefore always be a balance between production and consumption. Otherwise, the network is in trouble and may experience outages. Blackouts.
What is electrical load shedding used for?
It is a question of finding the balance between the production of current and its consumption. When the production has strong capacities, it is enough to lower it or to export it. This is the whole point of so-called controllable production, like nuclear energy, because you can increase or decrease the activity of nuclear reactors as needed. Solar and wind cannot be controlled.
Conversely, when consumption exceeds production, load shedding aims to lighten the load on the network. We cut the current in places, for a relatively short time, to pass a peak without destabilizing the large-scale electrical system. In principle, these load sheddings are increasingly rare, thanks to the interconnection with neighboring countries.
Given the onset of winter, the unavailability of part of the French nuclear fleet, energy tensions with Russia and the difficulties encountered by other European countries, France has limited room for manoeuvre. This is why it provides plans to possibly implement load shedding, if consumption is not controlled and reduced.
Can load shedding be avoided?
Tensions on the electricity network arise when it is very busy: it turns out that winter 2022-2023 ticks all the wrong boxes. The country has increased needs for heating and lighting, because it is getting colder and night falls early. Additionally, part of our production capacity is out of service for maintenance and inspection.
Load shedding can be avoided by reducing electricity consumption, i.e. by postponing or renouncing certain uses of appliances. It is, for example, dressing warmer at home rather than raising the temperature and staying in a t-shirt. It means taking more advantage of off-peak hours, which are times when the electricity network is less strained.
Upstream measures have been taken to try to balance the use of the network. For example, the heating of hot water tanks has been reprogrammed to more favorable times. The population is also invited to follow eco-gestures. Ditto for the private sector and the administration. At the same time, EDF is striving to restart enough nuclear reactors in time.
Will there be load shedding in France during winter 2022-2023? Impossible to say at the moment, because it will depend on the commitment of each other. We know that Enedis is preparing for possible power cuts, just in case. But, if this should happen, the government is planning a system to preserve weekends and so that each cut does not last more than 2 hours.