The RTE electrical network manager provides a tense situation on the network because of the cold. No shutdown is considered at this stage.
Le Monde
A cold wave and an energized electricity grid. The electricity transmission network (RTE) provides for a complicated situation Monday, April 4 in the morning and therefore calls businesses and individuals to curb their consumption at that time.
“RTE asks companies and communities to moderate their consumption on Monday morning (especially between 7 hours and 10 hours) and asks the French who can shift their electricity consumption at this weekend rather than Monday in this which concerns the use of appliances “, does it indicate In a statement released Saturday
This National Ecowatt “Orange” signal (which can go up to “red”) of the network manager intervenes due to lower temperatures, which must increase electricity consumption.
It will be “high” on Monday and could reach 73,000 MW around 9 o’clock. National production should be only 65,000 MW at the same time, but France should be able to import up to 11,000 MW to pass this course, according to RTE, which believes that the situation could be “tense”.
Tensions caused by the low availability of the nuclear park
“rte does not plan, however, no power cut on Monday morning, unless hazards had to occur this weekend,” says the company, which will update its analyzes on Sunday. Economy gestures (turn off standby devices or light bulbs, lower the heating …) are presented on the site.
“These gestures can have a real impact: if all the French turning off a light bulb, it causes an electricity consumption saving of 600 MW, about the consumption of a city like that of Toulouse,” explains RTE.
The French electrical system is under tension this winter due in particular to the low availability of the nuclear park, linked to a maintenance schedule loaded, also disturbed by the containments of 2020. Currently, 27 nuclear reactors are unavailable out of 56.
The Saint-Avold coal plant (Moselle) also comes to close, even if it could possibly be restored next winter.
