With temperatures dropping drastically, electricity consumption forecasts for France are not good for next Monday. The first orange Ecowatt alert of the season could be issued by RTE…
The “scenario of fear”, lambasted by Emmanuel Macron, will it materialize sooner than expected? According to weekly electricity consumption forecasts, established by Electricity transmission network (RTE)the electricity transmission manager in the country, the temperatures, which will drop this weekend and at the beginning of next week, could push the French to turn up the heating and therefore increase the country’s energy expenditure.
According to the latest estimates, electricity consumption should already rise significantly this Thursday, as shown by the real-time monitoring curves, with a peak at 76,800 megawatts (MW). Economic activity being reduced at the weekend, the cold wave should not cause a significant peak on Saturday and Sunday, but on Monday, on the other hand, the 80,000 MW should be exceeded from midday, at 12:15 p.m., according to RTE. A record since the start of the cold season which could correspond to an orange Ecowatt signal.
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Forecasts may change
The Ecowatt website set up by RTE in September aims to alert the population in real time to avoid electricity shortages and power cuts this winter. The orange signal is synonymous with a “tense” electrical system and calls for “eco-gestures” on the part of individuals and businesses. It is in the event of a red signal that load shedding – in other words preventive cuts – can be decided to avoid the blackout.
RTE indicates that the forecasts for this weekend and for next week may still change “significantly”. But this first Ecowatt alert, if it happened, would concretize the fears fueled for a week by the operators and by the government, which sent a circular to the prefects to anticipate the load shedding.