An experiment aimed at avoiding planned outages
The Minister of Ecological Transition is looking for an alternative to avoid possible planned cuts, load sheddingwhich can take place in the event of high demand, more particularly in winter when temperatures drop.
The Government therefore wishes to carry out technical tests in real conditions on around 200,000 homes equipped with a Linky meter. The objective of this full-scale test is to improve the performance of the electrical system and to see if it is technically perfectly possible to implement a tool that would protect the electrical network when it is under extreme voltage and thus , ofimprove system resilience.
This experiment could allow France to approach winter with more serenity, without fear of a widespread breakdown.
A presentation of the project on October 26
The ministry wanted to make it clear that this project has not nothing to do with the state of the French electricity system which is satisfactory, since France has even been exporting electricity since the start of 2023.
It is essentially abouta safeguard measure for this system. Furthermore, this electricity limitation imposed on thousands of homes will not take place systematically, but only if all of the levers tested do not give favorable results. The objective is thus to prevent tensions on the network which could cause general outages.
The project is thus presented to the Higher Energy Council (CSE) for advisory opinion on October 26, 2023, for an upcoming publication of the regulatory text.
What would this entail?
As mentioned previously, this project would concern 200,000 homes equipped with a Linky meter. The choice of this type of meter is not due to chance, it is due to its ability to adapt the electrical power to the needs of each household, which is an essential criterion for the implementation of this project.
Between 3 and 36 kVA, the power of Linky meters is generally set at 6 kVA for an average-sized home, i.e. 80 m², equipped with electric heating.
Thus, if the project is adopted, in the days following its publication and until March 31, 2024, this power could be lowered to 3 kVA for 4 hours. Such power represents the power consumption of a radiator, refrigerator and laptop under load. This means that some customers will be forced to consume less electricity rather than having to completely cut off power in one location.
However, this can cause different problems. In fact, the power fixed in a home is generally calculated in relation to the equipment it contains. So, if we take the example of a heat pump, this sudden drop in power may not please it and lead to a power cut throughout your home. And this is just one example among many.
How will users be notified?
Households that are part of the project will be notified by postal mail before implementing the power reduction of their meter. However, residential customers identified as “patients at high vital risk” should not be affected by this power limitation. Other than that, we still don’t know anything about how the affected households will be chosen.
Varied opinions
When this experiment was announced, opinions were mixed, especially sinceno recourse or compensation are not intended for users who will have a temporary limitation of the electrical power in their home imposed.
Furthermore, the question arises of the resistance of certain electrical devices to this yo-yo effect to which they will be subjected. All that remains is to hope that winter will be like the previous winter, not too rigorousbecause, as said previously, this solution will only be put in place in the event that the other levers are not sufficient to avoid a collapse of the electricity network.