Risk of power cuts in France as cold snap continues

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The head of EDF has admitted there could be power outages across France if temperatures continue to fall.  Pierre Gadonneix, head of the state owned power company told Le Parisien "We could have a local or national power shortage if (electricity) consumption surpasses our power-line network's delivery capacity.  For the moment, we are all right, but if it gets just a little bit colder, we will be vulnerable to a power cut."

On Wednesday, France set its third consecutive record for electricity usage, with 92,400 megawatts consumed at 7 pm (1800 GMT).  In winter, a decrease of 1 degree centigrade generally provokes an increase in national power usage of 2,100 megawatts.

According to forecasts by the national weather service Meteo France, temperatures are expected to remain low through the weekend, with a gradual warming trend beginning on Monday. The low point of the cold snap was reached on Wednesday, when temperatures fell to minus 10 degrees centigrade overnight in Paris.

In Poitou-Charentes all departments have been affected by the adverse weather, with school bus services cancelled in Vienne and Charente, and snow and ice affecting most areas.  In Charente, the main RN10 and RN141 trunk roads are now clear, but the secondary network remains icy.  On the rails there was disruption yesterday on the Bordeaux-Paris TGV route, as overhead power cables were affected by the icy conditions at St-Pierre-de-Corps, causing delays of up to 1h30.