The hypothesis of power outages in private homes this winter, highly improbable yesterday, now seems a likely scenario. “Actually there is the risks about load shedding, only for the month of January, this Saturday, November 19, the President of the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), Emmanuel Vargon, admitted on Franceinfo. “For January, we have a form of concern and vigilanceHe added that the occurrence of this scenario will depend on the weather, the electricity consumption of the French and the presence of nuclear reactors.
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Yesterday, RTE’s electricity network manager warned of a “high” risk of grid strain for January, particularly due to the delays EDF has piled up in restarting currently shut down nuclear power plants. The manager also emphasizes the decisive influence of the weather. On all sides, therefore, the authorities seem to be preparing the French for blackouts this winter; gas is not for individuals. If there are downloads, how will it work? Explanations:
Cuts are made by the grid operator, RTE, to ensure a balance between electricity supply and demand and thus avoideclipse“. An eclipse that RTE and CRE absolutely do not plan for this winter. These targeted cuts, called shedding, “solution of last resort“, explains Patrice Geoffron, director of the Center for Energy and Commodity Geopolitics (CGEMP) at Paris-Dauphin University. The government is relying on its Ecowatt device, which will send alerts when there is high voltage on the grid, to avoid it. RTE predicts that several red Ecowatt signals could be sent out in January to urge consumers to make an effort.
If this is not enough, removal of the load is inevitable. They are framed by certain rules. On the one hand, cuts are limited to two hours per household. Triggered by the power distributor, i.e. Enedis, they can only occur a priori between 8am and 1pm and 5:30pm and 8:30pm, which are peak network periods. These power outages are rolling out, meaning entire neighborhoods, representing around 200,000 households, are going out one after the other. Households concernedare notified the day before at 18.00.“, says Julien Thede, CEO of energy broker Opéra Énergie.
Some non-discharging users
Some buildings were deemed satisfactorybasic needs of the nation” are not affected by this last measure. In the decree of July 5, 1990, There are hospitals, clinics and laboratories, signal and street lighting installations.considered for safety“, as well as strategic industrial facilities, in particular:of interest to national defense“. It is the task of each district head to compile a list of non-discharging users of his department.
In addition to these priority customers, the district heads, the decree states, can approve “additional lists of users who, based on their specific situation, within the limits of availability, can use a certain priority in relation to other users, in particular in case of emergencies.“. We think especially about high-risk patients treated at home, for example, under artificial respiration devices. “We have identified sensitive consumers beforehandPrime Minister Elizabeth Bourne explained to France Inter in early September. We want to make sure that we don’t turn off the power to someone with a medical device. All this is listed so that there are no dramas due to these cuts.»
The precedent of November 4, 2006
However, high-risk patients, who are not registered by the prefect in the additional list of priority users, may suffer reductions in the case of high voltage in the electrical network, confirms Enedis. But, in order to avoid the terrible consequences that such power outages can have, they can use a special information system. It is intended for patients at high vital risk (PHRV), i.e., ventilator patients with less than or equal to four hours of autonomy per day, as well as children on parenteral nutrition. “Other categories of patients, such as renal failure on home dialysis, may be affectedsays Enedis.
To register under this scheme, these patients must complete certain documents and send them to their Regional Health Agency (ARS). The device is connected for one year, after which the request must be renewed. The ARS then sends the list of PHRVs to Enedis to allow the distributorso that we can warn them in advance so that the persons concerned can make their own arrangements“, we explain. If the power outage is unexpected, these patients have a dedicated phone number, also known to the ARS, that they can call to determine the possible duration of the power outage and organize accordingly.
If France were to unload private homes this winter, it would be a first. “This type of reduction (targeted, planned, temporary) has never happened. This would be an unprecedented situationRTE emphasizes. They would make it possible to avoid the catastrophic eclipse scenario that last happened in 2006. on November 4. About 15 million households in Western Europe were left in the dark. In France, almost 5.7 million households were disconnected from the grid for one hour in the evening due to the voluntary disconnection of the 400,000 volt power line brought in Germany an hour earlier. However, it was possible to avoid a complete blackout.
Source: Le Figaro
I’m Liza Grey, an experienced news writer and author at the Buna Times. I specialize in writing about economic issues, with a focus on uncovering stories that have a positive impact on society. With over seven years of experience in the news industry, I am highly knowledgeable about current events and the ways in which they affect our daily lives.