This favorable development is to be placed on the account of a sharp drop in consumption, with a decline of 9 % in the last four weeks.
mo12345lemonde with AFP
A month before, the risk of tensions for the electricity network in January was “high”. It now appears “average”, according to The latest analysis of the High and very high voltage Network Manager (RTE) . RTE believes this:
“Subject to the maintenance of energy savings efforts, these favorable developments make it possible to reduce the risk for security of supply compared to the anticipation of recent months, in particular for the month of January ( …) Without being able to exclude it in the event of very unfavorable weather conditions. “
“France addresses the heart of winter in a more favorable situation than at the beginning of fall, and better prepared to deal with situations of tension”, affirms the manager.
Preserved gas stocks
This favorable development is to be put on account of a sharp drop in consumption, which is “now solidly established”, with a decline of 9 % in the last four weeks. In addition, hydraulic stocks, which had suffered from drought, could be “reconstituted” during the fall, while gas stocks could be preserved thanks to the soft temperatures of October and November.
Another notable improvement: the availability of the nuclear fleet, whose capacity has exceeded 40 gigawatts (GW) from the week of December 12, after the restoration of many reactors.
The set of “these elements [allows] to reduce the risk of emissions from the Red Ecowatt signal” compared to the basic scenario established by RTE in September. This signal prevents the risk of targeted cuts to less substantial reductions in electricity consumption.