Like the Government, the president of Engie urges the French to lower the temperature of their heating to limit gas consumption this winter in a context of scarcity.
“Baisser le chauffage d’un degré, permet de réduire la consommation de 7% en moyenne”, to martelé Jean-Pierre Clamadieu ce mercredi sur France Inter afin d’atteindre l’objectif d’une baisse de la consommation de gaz de 10 % this year.
But this may not be enough to avoid problems, warns the leader, who highlights two important factors: the weather and Chinese demand that is currently contained.
“We are much better prepared”
“The weather, it has to be a normal winter, and not very cold”, which is far from true. As for China, a strong recovery in activity could jeopardize deliveries of liquefied gas (LNG), which are the heart of supply in Europe and France. Remember that the latest major lockdowns in China once again limit domestic demand.
“China must not go away again (…) We receive 30 to 40 ships (LNG, editor’s note) per week compared to ten a year ago”, but a resumption of activity in the country could significantly reduce these exports.
However, the coach stresses: “We are much better prepared” than three or four months ago. “Supply is secure. Storage in France is more than 95% full.”
“This winter, what is going to be complicated is managing our storage,” says Jean-Pierre Clamadieu.
Engie’s analysis is shared by RTE, the power grid administrator. “If the winter is mild, you won’t hear about RTE. If we are in a medium situation, the number of days in which we would ask for specific actions will be between 0 and 5. Where we will ask for voluntary reductions in consumption, first from the companies with which we are currently signing alliances”, explained in BFM Business, Thomas Veyrenc , Executive Director.
And the worst scenarios? “In the worst case, which faces a brutal hypothesis on European exchanges (…), to which would be added a very cold winter, which we have not known for more than 10 years, we could reach ‘around of 30 days that are reported. It’s the worst case scenario, it’s really very unlikely, but it exists.”
The “informed days correspond to days of tension in the energy market or in the electrical system”. However, RTE excludes blackout, “the loss of total control of the system.”
Source: BFM TV
