The week of December 11, according to RTE, marks a decrease of almost 10 % compared to the average of the years 2014 to 2019. Visualize the latest trends.
by Raphaëlle Aubert
The sobriety efforts requested from consumers are already visible in graphics. RTE, the manager of the French electricity transport network, publishes every week a synthesis of the consumption of the country.
“On the first half of 2022, electricity consumption at normal temperature remained close to the levels before the health crisis (lower of 1 % to 2 %)”, let the authors of the report. From September, on the other hand, the trend is downwards; An effect that “is confirmed and has been accentuated since October”.
The week of December 11, consumption has a decrease of almost 10 % compared to the average of the years 2014 to 2019. Over the past four weeks, this structural decline represents approximately 9 %. In this context, the Ecowatt signal, which alerts consumers of tensions, or even possible cuts controlled on the network, has currently remained green.
a drop in all sectors
To identify a structural decrease in the level of electricity consumption, RTE provides raw data collected two types of corrections:
- Meteorological. Electricity demand is very sensitive to temperature variations, especially due to heating needs. In winter, for each degree less, the power called by the network increases by 2,400 megawatts (MW). To compare consumption from one year to the next, it is therefore necessary to relate it to a reference temperature for the period. Statisticians use a “Weather-France normal temperatures” weighting. “This is the consumption that would have taken place if the temperatures had been aligned on normal temperatures for the period,” summarizes Rte.
- Calendar. Electricity consumption reflects the daily life of consumers. It therefore varies strongly between a weekday, a weekend and a holiday. “Consumer history is therefore adjusted so that historic weekdays correspond to weekdays of this year,” explain the authors. In addition, the restrictions on the COVVI-19 crisis influenced the consumption of French. It is therefore appropriate to compare the figures of 2022 with an average envelope calculated over the years that preceded the crisis (2014-2019).
Once these precautions have been taken, RTE is able to confirm, “including during the cold period, (…) the real effect of the sobriety actions committed”. These efforts were first observed in the industry, in the fall, “in a context of increased energy prices”. It now concerns all sectors. “The most recent figures – collected during the cold period of the last days – show that the drop in consumption also concerns the residential (majority in volume) and tertiary sector”, writes the manager.
In his Analysis on the passage of winter For the electrical system, updated on November 18, RTE provides” a risk of recourse to the Ecowatt device (and in Particular to the red alert signal), (…) high in January “, which” will largely depend on climatic conditions and the possible occurrence of a even moderate cold wave “. On the production side, the room for maneuver will indeed be limited in the heart of winter – delays in restarting nuclear reactors at the stop, less availability of gas in Europe.