Since the winter of 2022 and fears of power cuts in entire neighborhoods, the question has been on everyone’s minds: will the French electricity network withstand the shock? For a long time, manufacturers have had the possibility of occasionally lowering their consumption – in exchange for remuneration – during peaks in electricity demand. From now on, this solution, which experts call diffuse erasure in their jargon, becomes accessible to individuals. With its box measuring a few centimeters positioned close to the radiators of a house or apartment, the Voltalis company has become number 1 in this market, and intends to remain so.
Movement in progress
“Once plugged in, the device allows you to temporarily cut off the heating when the electrical system is particularly under tension,” explains Mathieu Bineau, the general director of Voltalis. Aggregated over nearly 1 million heaters, these few minutes saved make it possible to participate in the general balancing of our energy infrastructures, without having to start up a coal or gas power plant, which emits high levels of CO2. Installed free of charge in private homes, this system would enable them to achieve energy savings of up to 15%. Voltalis, for its part, is paid by the Electricity Transport Network (RTE, the French manager) for its service. “We are paid in place of the power plant which did not operate”, summarizes Mathieu Bineau. With its stock of 200,000 equipped homes, Voltalis estimates its demand response capacity at 500 megawatts, or “the equivalent of a thermal power station”. The company sees the future with optimism since load shedding should become increasingly important as France advances in the electrification of uses and the development of renewable energies.
The multi-annual energy program sets a target of 6.5 gigawatts (GW) of demand response capacity by 2028, and of this total the share concerning households and businesses should reach 1.5 GW. That is the equivalent of one and a half times the electricity production of a nuclear power plant. “We will need a lot of flexibility in the years to come,” explains Julien Teddé, general manager of the energy broker Opéra Energie. Little by little, a real market is being organized: since 2020, the calls for tenders made by RTE for demand response have continued to grow, going from 770 megawatts to more than 2,700 in 2023. Enough to give some encouragement appetite to players in the sector: “Within five to seven years, we hope to reach 3 million homes equipped with our solution, in France and in Europe,” explains Mathieu Bineau.
Attractive prices
For its part, the company Flexcity, a subsidiary of Veolia, is targeting the retail and SME sector which is also opening up to shedding. The company already has 10,000 registered customers in France, including supermarkets, wastewater treatment sites, and small industries. “We are regaining control over part of their consumption, by cutting off the operation of pumps, cold or heating groups, or ventilation. Some installations can stop immediately for half an hour, others can start break for an hour, it depends,” explains Adrien Doré, the France and Italy director. Determining what type of electricity consumption to stop at time t requires a relatively complex diagnosis. “We must precisely understand the processes in place on these installations, in order to make them available when we need them,” explains the manager.
Erasure professionals therefore benefit from favorable winds. As proof, the financial return they get from their activity is becoming more and more attractive. “We are observing an increase in erasure capacities, but also in the value of the erased power, which has become very high,” explains Julien Teddé. The average cost of the megawatt/hour erased is today around 50,000 euros per year. For Flexcity and Voltalis, sobriety is becoming more and more profitable.