PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st December, 2022) France will likely face short-term power outages this winter in some areas during peak hours of energy consumption to avoid a disbalance in power grid, French transmission system operator RTE said on Thursday.
"We are planning local and short-term regional power outages this winter, with a maximum duration of two hours, to avoid a disbalance in our power grids," the chief of the RTE's managing board, Xavier Piechaczyk, told the France Info broadcaster.
Piechaczyk also said that one outage would temporarily leave up to 10 million French nationals without electricity.
Earlier in November, RTE warned of possible electricity shortages in January, since not all nuclear reactors that have been undergoing repairs would be returned to operation by this time.
In October, the French transmission system operator RTE warned that it was not ruling out risks of blackouts this winter, noting that they could be avoided only by a 1% to 5% decline in energy consumption and by a 15% decline if the winter was very cold.
