Underground cables carrying electricity weakened by heat… Power outages affected part of the city of Lyon this Friday afternoon and certain streets in the neighboring towns of Villeurbanne and Caluire-et-Cuire, announced the manager of the Enedis electricity network.
“The high cumulative heat caused breakdowns in the underground networks”, specifies the company.
Urban areas are more particularly affected by this “exceptional” phenomenon, because “tarred floors accumulate heat which weakens underground cables”, added the spokesperson for Enedis.
Some of the breakdowns were able to be restored in 15 minutes automatically and “in other cases it is longer: Enedis agents must go on site to locate the breakdown”, according to her.
More than 200 streets affected
The electricity supplier was not able to give a precise figure of the households affected by these cuts, the situation evolving in real time.
According to Actu Lyon, more than 200 streets have been completely deprived of power in the cities of Lyon, Villeurbanne and Caluire-et-Cuire alone.
Power outages were also recorded in Tassin-la-Demi-Lune, Oullins, Pierre-Bénite or even Saint-Genis-Laval, in the Lyon area, reports Le Progrès.
A heatwave episode hit France this week, with peaks of 38°C recorded in Lyon.
Several EDF nuclear reactors were forced to lower their production due to the high temperatures of the waterways used for their cooling, while the environmental exemptions enjoyed by certain sites were extended.
