16 September 2022•Update: 17 September 2022
PARIS
French households may face power cuts of up to two hours if the energy crisis intensifies this winter, the country’s national electricity operator said in a statement.
The RTE presented three scenarios for the coming winter and pointed out that only in the worst-case scenario there might be several hours of power cuts.
During the winter months, RTE envisages a few "red signals" on the EcoWatt online platform, the operator said in its statement.
The EcoWatt is an online platform that shows in real time the electricity consumption in France, and it can also send SMS to consumers, warning them in case of emergency.
The system uses three colors: green (normal), orange (tight electrical system) and red, which means "very tight" situation.
The RTE said that extreme situations are not the most likely.
The risk of a power cut could be avoided by reducing consumption by 1% to 5% in the medium scenario, and by up to 15% in the most extreme scenario, according to the operator.
The RTE said the vast majority of vulnerable situations would occur between 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. local time and in the evening between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. local time.
The worst-cast scenario means that if the companies' voluntary reductions are not sufficient, households will experience planned power cuts of up to two hours in the evening or early morning during the winter months.
The RTE stressed that in no case would there be a risk of a blackout in France, i.e. a complete loss of control over the power grid.
The operator said they have the appropriate and proportionate means to protect the power grid depending on the extent of the imbalance.
