Despite increasingly cold temperatures and an increase in electricity consumption, the first orange EcoWatt signal of the season issued by RTE could well be avoided on Monday.
[Mis à jour le 9 décembre 2022 à 22h46] A first Ecowatt alert dismissed on Monday? The national power system could well be heavily impacted by cooling temperatures next week. As winter gradually sets in over the country, the situation is starting to get tense for the energy system. According to weekly electricity consumption forecasts, established by Electricity transmission network (RTE)the country’s electricity transport manager, the temperatures, which will drop this weekend and at the start of next week, could push the French to turn up the heating and therefore increase the country’s energy expenditure.
If RTE predicted the first peaks in electricity consumption in the coming days, an update of the forecasts carried out this Friday, December 9 gives new forecasts in terms of electricity. The fear of an orange alert has now been dismissed for the time being. However, the manager’s experts announce that these forecasts are still subject to change and no cuts are planned for the moment. Contrary to the red alert, the orange alert does not mean in any case a risk of cut. On a voluntary basis, French people are simply asked to make occasional efforts on their consumption.
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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.