“Very clearly, Russia is using gas as a weapon of war, so we have to prepare for the worst-case scenario which is a total disruption of deliveries.”indicates Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the Minister of Energy Transition, on Tuesday August 30 on France Inter, when the Engie group announces that the Russian Gazprom is further reducing its gas deliveries to France.
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At the question : “Do we have enough to last in the winter or should we expect power cuts?”the minister assures that the government is getting organized “so as not to have a cut this winter”. According to her, “strategic stocks” from France “are more than 90% full”which represents “two months in advance”. “What we can say is that, in a normal winter, we have enough gas in quantity”, says Agnès Pannier-Runacher. In contrast, “if we have to face cold peaks”and if “energy saving” 10% requested from companies and administrations “are not carried out”then the government will be “forced to turn the floodgates”.
To avoid reaching this point, the government is calling for everyone to be sober, to “a 10% reduction in our energy consumption”. “If we organize ourselves to lower our electricity and gas consumption, we will be able to get through the winter better, even if the temperature is colder than expected”she explains.
The government also intends to rely on the participation of companies, via contracts “of erasure”. “It’s a contract that you make and for which you are paid. You accept, when you are sent the signal, to erase your energy consumption, to stop your production for two hours in order to lower the peak energy consumption”continues Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
Agnès Pannier-Runacher on the “interruptibility and load shedding” system: “It’s a contract for which you are paid: companies are notified and organize themselves to erase gas or electricity consumption” #le7930inter pic.twitter.com/whU8z22euA
– France Inter (@franceinter) August 30, 2022
Finally, the third lever amounts to “reduce the voltage on the whole network”. “It’s going from 230 volts to 220 volts. You don’t see it”, she assures. If all these measures prove to be ineffective for overwintering, then “we will have to switch to a logic of load shedding”i.e. occasional power cuts, lasting a maximum of two hours, as well as gas cuts which will only concern businesses for reasons “techniques”. But “everything is not going to stop for 10 days”she promises.