" Tertiary
buildings"
such as offices and corporate headquarters and retail outlets are not yet reducing their electricity consumption, despite calls for sobriety in a tense winter context for energy security, RTE estimates on Friday. , the operator of the electricity transmission network.
Overall, electricity consumption fell by 6.7% last week compared to the average for previous years (2014-2019), according to the latest data published Tuesday evening by RTE.
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"Today, we are starting to see the effects of sobriety on household consumption, in the order of -1 to -2%, but we will see them better in the coming weeks
," said the chairman of the executive board on Friday. of RTE Xavier Piechaczyk, on the sidelines of the inauguration of a Franco-Belgian electrical interconnection in Tournai (Belgium).
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“On the other hand, we are not yet seeing a drop in consumption in the tertiary sector, whereas everyone must redouble their efforts
,” he stressed to a few journalists.
RTE clarified to AFP that the observation is aimed in particular at
“tertiary buildings”
such as
“offices, buildings and corporate headquarters”
as well as
“distribution businesses”
.
The risk of targeted cuts
The drop in consumption is mainly driven by industry,
"around 15%",
said Xavier Piechaczyk.
Because of soaring energy prices,
"some companies are lowering their production and large industries are running less,"
he notes.
In the event of a very strained situation in the electrical system this winter, the EcoWatt "
electricity weather
forecast" managed by RTE will issue a red signal three days in advance to warn of the risk of targeted and temporary cuts, so that everyone implements measures to avoid them.
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France is weakened by nuclear power production at its lowest this year, which raises uncertainties about energy security.
When this signal is issued, the public authorities will ask for sobriety efforts to overcome the peaks in electricity consumption for the day, located between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. and between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
If consumption does not drop after the issuance of a red signal, rotating cuts of 2 hours organized on portions of departments would be
"inevitable"
, recalls RTE, which considers that January is the month most at risk.
"By mid-December, given the weather forecast, there is no probability of EcoWatt red signal emissions
," said Xavier Piechaczyk.
RTE will soon publish new forecasts for the period from mid-December to mid-January.
