Before the war in Ukraine and concerns about grid outages this winter, France had already experienced a “blackout,” a giant blackout in 1978. On December 19, across the country, temperatures were below freezing. seasonal norms and to supply electricity to its inhabitants. , France must import German electricity. It is 8 o’clock.
Nothing exceptional on paper, EDF is used to using the European network when demand requires it. But at 8:05 a.m.It’s the surge, tell him the new observer of the time.
And at 8:27 a.m., is the drama: the line gives way. “That doesn’t mean it will give out or break. It just goes off, like your meter, when you turn on too many electrical devices at once.”
The incident could have ended there, but the German electricity keeps coming… and it’s on the secondary grid lines, which are themselves cut off.
“Overlooked France”
Almost the entire country lives the blackout. There are monstrous traffic jams in Paris, where the metro no longer works, like in Lyon. Users pile up at bus stops, reports the INA. For people, many daily gestures no longer work: taking the elevator, turning on the television…
around noon, the current gradually returned. Only a part of eastern France will have been spared, because the Italian and German neighbors will supply electricity.
No blackout planned this winter
Don’t worry: this giant collapse, the last France has known, should not happen again this winter. Instead, RTE (electricity transmission network) announced a few days ago that cuts are expected since January.
Therefore, it will be expected that rotary load shedding, that is, it stops at certain times and in certain regions. According to RTE, they should take place at peak times, in the morning between 8 am and 1 pm and in the afternoon between 6 pm and 8 pm. The cuts will have a maximum duration of 2 hours in a row.
“If we all do even more to reduce our consumption, we will not have a cut,” however, Elisabeth Borne assured this Thursday, questioned by several journalists.
Source: BFM TV
