Power outages: Pannier-Runacher says that “power outages in Paris are possible”

Outages located at peak hours, with a maximum duration of two hours. The Government has unveiled this week its crisis plan to deal with possible tensions in the electrical network this winter. Among the possible measures in the most critical situations: voluntary power cuts to decongest the network.

Not all territories will be affected by the cuts. French people who live, for example, in an area connected to a line that supplies a priority user or a vital site that cannot be cut off, will be exempt, the government detailed. That is 40% of the inhabitants in total.

In Paris, the list of priority sites means that only 20% of electricity consumption can be reduced. However, “no territory will be treated differently: load shedding in Paris is possible,” said Agnès Pannier-Runacher.

“The issue is not Paris but the critical centers: we are not going to turn off the hospitals, whether they are in the capital, in Lens or in Rodez! The same for places linked to the police or We are not going to cut down the support centers.” for those responsible for the electrical network, located in the interior of the suburbs, while they manage the crisis for the entire territory”, continued the minister, calling to “avoid falling into the demagogy of certain oppositions that feed on the fears of the people” .

Pannier-Runacher puts pressure on EDF

If the situation on the electrical grid is tense this winter, it is particularly because many nuclear reactors remain shutdown for maintenance or corrosion problems. And the timeline for returning to service appears to be behind schedule. “EDF has an obligation of result. The company must do everything possible to produce the electricity we need in conditions of maximum security”, stressed Agnès Pannier-Runacher.

The minister who met on Wednesday with the new head of EDF, Luc Rémont, promises to “give him time to settle” but urges him to “guarantee operational excellence in the management of power plants and the preservation of our hydraulic capacities, which will allow us to pass the consumption peaks”.