The necessary recourse to electrical load shedding this winter seems to be on the decline according to RTE but has not been completely ruled out. All the details on the protocol and the consequences of scheduled power outages.
[Mise à jour le 14 décembre à 16h19] The news is getting better and better about the possible use of power shedding this winter. This Wednesday, December 14, 2022, the executive director of the strategy and forecasting division of the Electric transport network (RTE), Thomas Veyrenc assured on behalf of the operator to have “discarded the worst-case scenario”. Better, according to him “we certainly have the means to avoid cuts.” Power cuts that lead to scheduled, localized and rotating power cuts were already only hypothetical but possible up to three times from January 2023 according to the latest RTE forecasts. The fall in electricity consumption close to 10% which is confirmed this week according to the weekly statements of the energy manager and the imminent restart of several nuclear power plants allow to hope to circumvent scheduled power cuts. “We are refurbishing nuclear reactors, there are 41 reactors that are in working order [sur 56, ndlr]the objective is to have 45 in January”, indicated the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, on C news December 14. A more optimal situation than a production of electricity which functions on only about thirty reactors. Only some 40% of the French population would be spared by power cuts because they supply a so-called “sensitive” or “priority” area such as hospitals, law enforcement or prisons.
As a precautionary measure, the government is however preparing to have to deal with power cuts and therefore power cuts. Since December 1 and the address of a circular to the prefectures, the protocol to be followed to set up load shedding by keeping the French informed and limiting the consequences is known. In the event of a red signal emitted on Ecowatt, the risk of a power outage would be announced three days in advance and the use of load shedding confirmed the day before at 5 p.m. at the latest. In addition to being anticipated, the cuts would be geographically targeted and limited to 2 hours and rotating so as not to penalize the same customers. Some 40% of the French population would be spared by power cuts because they supply a so-called “sensitive” or “priority” area such as hospitals, law enforcement or prisons.
Who would be affected by power outages?
Electrical load shedding is a measure that concerns 60% of French people, the remaining 40% being individuals connected to power lines that supply areas and establishments deemed “sensitive” which “engage the continuity of the life of the nation”, notes the government circular sent on December 1 to the prefectures. It should be noted, however, that even in areas close to sensitive sites, the risk of a power cut threatens private households.
If a major part of the metropolitan population – Corsica being supplied with electricity by its own production, itself connected to Italy – can be targeted by load shedding, the scheduled power cuts will only concern each time a limited and minority sector of a department. Load shedding will be designed and targeted to geographical areas with 2,000 individual or professional customers served by the electricity network on average depending on the site life-public.fr. And the same zone cannot be subject to several successive load shedding. The government protocol designed in collaboration with the services of the electricity transmission network (RTE) provides that the cuts are “distributed” and “smoothed” and that “the national solidarity effort [soit] done by everyone.”
What are the sensitive areas exempt from power cuts?
A handful of sites and establishments are spared from power cuts and scheduled power cuts thanks to the status of the infrastructures. All these places are listed in confidential lists drawn up by the prefectures and communicated to the managers of the electrical networks. These establishments include all hospitals, fire stations, gendarmeries, police stations and prisons. A few industrial sites are also listed among these sites. Some private households dependent on the same power lines as these establishments will therefore be able to be supplied with electricity even in the event of load shedding in their area.
While hospitals and other health establishments are considered priority sites, this is not the case for people receiving medical care at home. “People who are at high vital risk are not among the priority customers defined by the prefectures”, confirmed the spokesperson for Enedis, Laurent Méric, on BFM TV December 5. It should be understood that the use of a medical device such as a home respirator is not a reason that justifies a household being exempt from power cuts. If electrical load shedding does take place in medically treated people, special measures are planned to avoid all risks.
What measures for sick and hospitalized people at home?
If public health establishments will be exempt from power cuts, this will not be the case for sick people hospitalized at home, dependent on medical devices or patients at high risk of life (PHRV). However, for these, arrangements will be made, as explained by Jesus Gonzales, president of the French-speaking pneumology society, withEuropean 1 December 7. “Any patient who uses respiratory equipment for more than 16 hours a day must have two machines classified as life support. Each of these machines has internal batteries with a lifespan of approximately four hours. The regulations require an external battery to be fitted in addition and to set up a manual machine that we inflate by hand if we ever really reach the end of the battery”, he lists before calculating the “12 hours of safety battery” available for people with medical care at home. Measures that are a priori sufficient to hold up during power cuts of two hours, but “in addition, the company that provides this equipment by regulation must go to the emergency patient to help him” if necessary, adds Jesus Gonzalez.
Certain measures are also taken beforehand, in particular the keeping of a register by the Regional Health Agencies (ARS) which must identify all people with PHRV or at risk. This list is sent to electricity network managers who have the obligation to warn these individuals at least three days in advance of “any particular situation which would require appropriate support”. Which can designate “the organization of possible travel” of vulnerable people specifies the executive. A register of vulnerable people, who should be monitored with particular attention, without being high-risk patients, for example people over the age of 65, must also be kept up to date.
When will people subject to power outages be notified?
If scheduled power cuts are planned, the people affected by the upcoming power outage will be notified in advance. A red Ecowatt signal issued three days before a possible power outage will alert the population of a department. If no improvement is observed, the use of load shedding will be confirmed the day before the outage, at 5 p.m. at the latest, on RTE’s Ecowatt platform. Users registered on the platform will then be informed by SMS or email of the next day’s outage. It is already agreed that power cuts may occur during three time slots: from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Not only to foresee the times of possible load shedding, the government plan also foresees the days when these cuts could occur. It is mainly during the week, from Monday to Friday, that the tensions on the electrical system could justify scheduled cuts. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays should be spared given the drop in activity and therefore consumption on those days.
Will schools be affected by power outages?
Schools are not considered priority or sensitive areas and will therefore be affected by power cuts in the event of load shedding. The Minister of Education has specified the measures in which the cuts could intervene and upset the reception of pupils. In the event of a cut, schools will be closed only in the morning and catering services will operate, according to the ministry. Finally, parents will be notified the evening before.
Will power outages affect telephone and telecom networks?
The telephone antennas being dependent on the electrical network to be supplied, electrical load shedding would lead to the decommissioning of part of the telephony network and more broadly of telecommunications. The phenomenon is especially problematic since it can complicate access or contact with the emergency services and other emergency services. To guarantee contact with the emergency services, the government invites people to use 112, the European emergency call number, during power cuts.
It is obvious that a power cut will disrupt the telephone network, on the other hand and unlike electrical power cuts which can be circumscribed geographically, breakdowns in telecommunications could be more diffuse on the territory.
How to avoid load shedding and power outages?
Now that the shadow of load shedding and blackouts hangs over the French for the whole winter, the government and energy operators are hoping that the worries will push the population to participate in efforts to save energy . The executive and RTE also recall that compliance with the measures of the energy sobriety plan can be a sufficient lever to circumvent load shedding, if everyone takes their part in the collective mobilization which consists of three actions hammered out by the government: “extinguish , lower and shift” its consumption.
If the French are called upon to be active in energy saving, restarting nuclear power plants is another significant factor in avoiding scheduled power cuts. While 20 of 56 French reactors are shut down for maintenance reasons or work against corrosion, around ten of them must restart between December and the first ten days of January. Restarting will increase, if only slightly, the quantities of energy produced and therefore reduce the chances of resorting to electrical load shedding.