Faced with the ring of cold affecting the country, the Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher wanted to reassure the French.
“Everything is going to be fine.” These were the words of the Minister of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher this Monday, January 8 at the microphone of France Info about the cold wave crossing France. The French have nothing to worry about, France has enough electricity and gas to cope. “We have a lot of electricity that we produce, and we have so much that we export,” declared the minister. “We have gas in storage,” she even announced. Enough to reassure the French, while the deployment of the “Great Cold” plan has begun in several prefectures such asMaine-et-Loire and Île-de-France.
Consumption down 12%
The cold snap that set in on Monday, January 8 in the country may trigger some concerns. Temperatures will be mainly in the negative and will oscillate between -5°C and 0°C in the northern hemisphere, frost and snow are also expected. The main massifs of France will not be the only ones affected, the northwest could also experience snowfall. The cold peak should be reached this Tuesday, January 9, 2024.
So, could this be the return of energy sobriety, so dear to the government last year? Not at all according to the minister. The latter precisely wanted to “thank the French” because “collectively, we have reduced our gas and electricity consumption”. A decrease of 12% compared to before Covid, taking into account the reference years 2014-2019. This effort at the national level currently allows “to be very comfortable when these cold waves arrive” according to Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
“We can reassure the French” confirms RTE
An optimism shared by Arnaud Mazingue, director of operations at RTEmanager of the French electricity transmission network this Monday morning with our colleagues from BFMTV : “We can reassure the French. We are forecasting a peak for this week which will take place on Wednesday morning at 83 gigawhatts and which will be covered by French electricity production. We are not issuing an alert”. Please note, despite good results, the government advises continuing efforts in terms of consumption and savings. In short, heat the living rooms to 19°C as indicated by Ademe.