Coincidence of the calendar or not, the Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CPME) has chosen the cold wave that has been going through France for a few days to organize a day for the owners of small structures. A representative of GRDF, Enedis and the business mediator were invited to explain the load shedding operations that could take place throughout the territory and that could interrupt the activity of a certain number of companies in the middle of winter.
“Dumping is a possibility and companies must prepare for it,” insisted Bénédicte Caron, CPME’s vice president in charge of economic affairs. How do we organize ourselves in terms of safety, fresh produce? It will be too late to think about it. and take necessary action the day before at 5 pm when we announce to a trade manager that it will be discharged the next day.
The weather will be the determining factor.
The Enedis Customer Service Director, Thierry Vachon, returned to the disconnection of electrical load, recalling the importance of acting on upstream consumption so as not to have to resort to it. “70% of consumption in winter is due to tertiary and residential buildings, specifically with heating, ovens, toasters and even hair dryers”, recalled the representative of the manager that covers 95% of clients nationwide .
As mentioned in a previous press conference together with RTE, Enedis will configure blocks of 100 MW of load shedding HTA (medium voltage) feeders for time slots of around 2 hours at peak consumption, each block representing around 100,000 customers. . All customers will be affected with the exception of “priority” sites defined by the prefectures, such as hospitals or infrastructure linked to defense or national security, which represent 38% of power.
Nearly 4,000 customers affected by gas cut
A little less noticeable, gas consumption management could also be subject to load shedding. With 474 TWh consumed in 2021, of which 60% will be concentrated in the November-March period, its level is relatively close to that of electricity. In detail, 11 million private customers, companies in the tertiary sector and SMEs represent almost two thirds of this consumption, manufacturers connected to the transport network slightly less than 30% and electricity producers from gas the rest.
Although gas stocks reached 99%, i.e. 130 TWh at the beginning of October, the aim of suppliers should be to preserve these stocks as much as possible. Prior to load shedding, customers can reduce total consumption by 7% by reducing their heating by one degree. Like electricity, an information and awareness system, EcoGaz, allows citizens, communities and companies to know the level of tension in the gas system and contribute to its balance through the implementation of ecogestos. For the largest consumers there are also interruptibility operations.
“Currently, the government is working on a rationing mechanism that consists of distributing gas consumption, explained Alexandre Morcel, GRDF delivery routing referrer, which would imply asking some non-residential customers to reduce their consumption by a set percentage by the State, over a defined period. In the current state of the draft texts, customers connected to the non-residential transmission and distribution networks and who have consumed more than 300 MWh during the previous calendar year would be targeted”.
Beyond these different levers, load shedding will occur at the request of the transmission or distribution network operators and will logically affect very large consumers who will be asked to reduce or interrupt their consumption for a few hours… or even a few days. Specifically, the shedding will affect some 3,900 customers who consume more than 5 GWh per year in an order of priority: firstly, the combined cycle gas plants (which produce electricity), the consumers who will be considered capable of harming the following the annual survey, consumers otherwise and finally those recognized as a mission of general interest.
A mediator enforces the letter signed by the energy providers
This information raised many questions among the hundreds of business leaders who attended the conference, many of whom were concerned about the economic consequences of these load shedding operations. “If there is a shedding: how are the VSEs at risk identified and taken into account?” asks Alain, who evokes a swimming pool activity that receives the public with machinery that must work 24 hours a day. because there is no more light and a health risk with the development of bacteria in the pool water because there is no longer any chlorine supply! And if there are no more customers, it’s a loss of billing!”
Some also wonder about the managerial management of these exceptional situations in which the load shedding will only be indicated the day before at the end of the afternoon. “Unfortunately, when you have to warn 1,200 employees, it’s frankly not easy to manage in real time,” laments Julie. Bénédicte Caron preferred to play the appeasement card: “Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher told us that if everyone played the game, everything should be fine and we should be able to spend this period in France. I myself knew a moment when we were cut off without notice when there were snow storms!”
In the midst of the renewal period of their energy contract, business leaders can turn to the business mediator in the event of a dispute with their supplier, while a letter of 25 commitments was signed at the beginning of October. “If one of these commitments is not respected, companies have the possibility to turn to the company mediator”, explains Nicolas Mohr, the general manager. In case of persistent disagreement, providers such as EDF or Engie have their own mediator, while VSEs with a turnover of less than 2 million euros have a national energy mediator at their disposal.
Source: BFM TV
