This Thursday, October 27, the electricity transmission network operator (RTE) joined Enedis (electricity distribution network operator) for a press conference aimed at communicating their strategy for this winter, as reported franceinfo.

RTE has announced that temporary power outages may be scheduled this winter. These cuts would aim to offload the network in the event of high tension, in order to avoid generalized “blackouts”. These cuts would therefore be a strategy of last resort.

According to the managers, if the French manage to reduce consumption at the national level by 5%, they will not have to resort to these strategic cuts.

The managers said they had little visibility beyond the second half of November. Union movements in nuclear power plants have dried up, and the reactors of the French nuclear fleet will restart in two weeks.

The temperatures this winter will inevitably have an impact on a potential network surge, but the weather forecast for early November announces mild temperatures. Indeed, the two most energy-intensive consumption poles, heating and hot water, are not yet requisitioned to the maximum.

Other measures will be put in place to prevent the “black-out”. The programming of the hot water tank postponed to off-peak hours, for users with a peak hour/off-peak hour contract, should “allow savings of the equivalent of the consumption of a city like Paris”, explains the director operation and system of Enedis.

Find below the detailed operation plan in the event of scheduled outages, which will systematically start 3 days before the said potential outage, according to the network managers and reported by Midi Libre.