Latest news with #Enedis
Local France
5 days ago
- Climate
- Local France
How France aims to keep the power on as temperatures soar
A blackout that struck the heart of Paris at the height of June's heatwave was caused by high temperatures, according to supplier Enedis. And the capital wasn't the only place affected on June 23rd, as temperatures soared - outages were reported on the same day in Occitanie, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and Centre-Val-de-Loire – leaving some 13,000 customers without power. READ ALSO Paris blackout caused by heatwave, says network operator The city of Tours, in western France, suffered two 'successive and exceptional outages due to the heat' that left some 5,000 households without power. And this is far from being solely a French problem - a particularly intense heatwave in Sicily in 2023 saw blackouts that lasted up to a week in some areas. 'Very high temperatures over several days with temperatures that do not drop at night cause the temperature of the tarmac to rise by several dozen degrees (on the surface), which put severe strain on the underground networks,' the French grid operator Enedis explained in a statement. Advertisement So, these incidents weren't isolated and were all linked to recognised climate change. The next question is: why hasn't anything been done to mitigate the effects of climate change on a power network we're all increasingly dependent on? It's the wrong question. Because Enedis has been undertaking a major modernisation programme to replace older cables that are vulnerable to high temperatures for the past 16 years, and make the entire national grid more resilient. The city of Paris is in the middle of a massive project to replace its underground electricity cables with heat-resistant ones, after an emergency planning exercise designed to test the city's readiness for the day the temperature hits 50C revealed a major risk of blackouts. Since 2009, it has replaced 100km of underground cables annually in the French capital alone, with newer, more resilient ones capable of handling the high temperatures the city faces as a result of climate change. Cables laid as late as the 1970s were conceived to resist temperatures up to 90C. But when heat is trapped for days under the asphalt, they can reach 120-130C, increasing the risk of failure. These near 50-year-old cables are replaced with more robust modern ones that are better insulated and more able to withstand higher temperatures. As heatwaves become more frequent and more intense, urgency is understandable – but these things take time. Already, however, the effects of the upgrades are being felt. 'We are reducing the number of incidents by a factor of 33,' an Enedis spokesperson told Franceinfo . Enedis plans to phase out the obsolete cables in all French cities by 2050. And it is working with specialists to model the effect of climate change on different regions in France so it can target its €1 billion a year modernisation programme where, and how it is most needed. In Brittany, north-western France, for example, wind is a bigger issue than heat. 'So we need to have different resilience programmes for each part of the country,' Enedis said. Advertisement Flagship projects in Indre-et-Loire and Ardèche, meanwhile, are seeing electricity cables buried underground to prevent outages caused by winds, snow and storms, which can lead to outages – due, for example, to branches or trees falling on to power lines. Today, some 98.4 percent of new medium-voltage lines are buried – the higher cost of maintenance and repairs more than covered by the reduction in the number of outages caused by extreme weather.
Local France
23-06-2025
- Climate
- Local France
Paris blackout caused by heatwave, says network operator
The power cut affected around 1,400 households and buildings on Monday, mostly situated in the oldest part of the city - the Île de la Cité. Among the buildings affected was the Palais de Justice, which houses the French court of appeal and other courts, and the Paris police HQ. Grid operator Enedis said in a statement on Monday morning : "An incident is underway on the electricity network in the Île de la Cité area of Paris, due to the exceptional episode of high heat over the last few days." Paris, like much of France, has experienced the first heatwave of the summer in recent days, with hot weather set to continue until Wednesday . Advertisement The city of Paris is currently in the middle of a massive project to replace its underground electricity cables with heat-resistant ones, after an emergency planning exercise designed to test the city's readiness for the day the temperature hits 50C revealed a major risk of blackouts. This is not just a Paris-based problem - with power cables melting in heatwaves from Portland to Sicily, the world's 80 million kilometres of power lines are largely unprepared to resist extreme temperatures, scientists have warned. Work on the Paris cables began in 2024, with the obsolete paper-insulated lead-covered cables (PILC), which are made of oil-impregnated paper encased in a lead sheath, gradually being replaced by a more heat-resilient version. "We're anticipating the renewal of these cables, which are starting to be affected by heat, to have a very resilient network in Paris," said Olivier Lagnel, deputy regional director for utility firm Enedis. PILC cables, which were the international standard from the late 19th century until the 1970s, were long considered highly reliable. They were wrapped in layers of oily paper intended to isolate the centre of the cable, which heats up as electrons pass through. The cables were conceived to resist temperatures up to 90C. But when heat is trapped for days under the asphalt, they can reach 120-130C - ageing faster and eventually risking failure. Paris's 9,200 kilometres of low- and medium-voltage power cables are entirely buried underground -- to save space and protect them from the wind, Lagnel said. Enedis plans to phase out the obsolete cables in French cities by 2050. "The main problem is that the insulator can dry up, and in that case the cable can be sensitive," said Lagnel. "The idea is to avoid cuts as much as possible" and to "desensitise the network... as heatwaves come back more and more often, stronger and stronger." Advertisement A searing heatwave in July 2023 left hundreds of thousands of Sicilians without electricity and water for days. Heat damage to underground cables was to blame, said supplier e-distribuzione, the distribution arm of energy giant Enel. "We find ourselves operating in conditions of exceptional climatic emergency," where the temperature of the asphalt on roads reached 50C, it said in a statement at the time.
North Wales Chronicle
26-05-2025
- North Wales Chronicle
Suspected arson causes second major power outage in south of France
Police have not yet established a link between the blackout that affected parts of Nice as well as nearby cities of Cagnes-sur-Mer and Saint-Laurent-du-Var on Sunday, and a power outage on Saturday that disrupted the city of Cannes during the closing day of its renowned film festival. The Nice blackout started around 2am and left some 45,000 households without electricity. The city's trams stopped and power was briefly cut to the Nice Cote d'Azur airport during its overnight closure hours. Power was fully restored by 5.30am, according to the energy provider company Enedis. The Nice public prosecutor said a criminal investigation has been opened for 'organised arson'. On Saturday, two other installations in the Alpes Maritime department were damaged in what officials also suspected to be arson, temporarily cutting power to 160,000 homes, including events at the Cannes Film Festival. Nice mayor Christian Estrosi condemned Sunday's attack and said the city had filed a complaint. 'I strongly denounce these malicious acts targeting our country,' he said on X. He ordered all sensitive electrical infrastructure in the city to be placed under police protection. 'These actions can have serious consequences, particularly on hospitals,' Mr Estrosi said at a press briefing on Sunday. 'As long as the perpetrators haven't been caught, we will remain on high alert.'
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
We're behind the Cannes power cut, boast French anarchists
Two anarchist groups claimed responsibility for a massive power cut that hit the French Riviera over the weekend, saying the sabotage was aimed at 'disrupting' the Cannes Film Festival. Power was lost for five hours on the final day of the festival on Saturday, knocking out traffic lights and ATMs and forcing organisers to use backup generators. Local officials said the causes behind the power cut were a suspected arson attack on a substation and vandalism of an electricity pylon. The headquarters of the festival switched to a backup power supply. Full power was subsequently restored, allowing Saturday night's closing ceremony to go ahead as planned. In an anonymous letter published online on Sunday, the two groups said they were behind the outage. 'The aim of the action was not only to disrupt the festival, but also to deprive all industrial establishments of electricity,' the anarchist groups reportedly wrote in their letter. 'We're not on a film set, but 'cut!' seemed to sum up our desire to turn off this deadly system,' they added, according to a police source. Damien Savarzeix, the public prosecutor in Grasse, said on Saturday that three of the four pillars of a pylon on the high-voltage line in Villeneuve-Loubet, which supplies power to part of the area, including Cannes, 'were sawn off' in a 'malicious act'. Electricity workers then switched off the line to allow the work to be carried out, indirectly causing a power cut that left 160,000 homes without electricity throughout the day. Following the Cannes incident, a blaze then hit an electricity transformer in the west of the city of Nice on Saturday night, knocking out power to 45,000 homes in the city and the surrounding region, the offices of the mayor and local prosecutors said. 'I vigorously condemn these criminal acts hitting our country,' said Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice, on X. 'In the coming days, we are reinforcing the [security camera] network around the city's strategic electric sites.' Power was restored around dawn, officials and the Enedis grid company said. At Cannes, the Palme d'Or went to A Simple Accident directed by Jafar Panahi, an Iranian filmmaker who was barred from leaving the state in 2018 when he earned a best screenplay prize. Mr Panahi has been imprisoned several times and went on a hunger strike in 2023 amid a state ban on his filmmaking. Jean-Noel Barrot, France's foreign minister, said his Cannes award was a further 'gesture of resistance against the Iranian regime's oppression'. On Sunday, Iran summoned the French charge d'affaires in Tehran over what it called the minister's 'insulting remarks and unfounded allegations'. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Belfast Telegraph
25-05-2025
- Belfast Telegraph
Suspected arson causes second major power outage in south of France
Police have not yet established a link between the blackout that affected parts of Nice as well as nearby cities of Cagnes-sur-Mer and Saint-Laurent-du-Var on Sunday, and a power outage on Saturday that disrupted the city of Cannes during the closing day of its renowned film festival. The Nice blackout started around 2am and left some 45,000 households without electricity. The city's trams stopped and power was briefly cut to the Nice Cote d'Azur airport during its overnight closure hours. Power was fully restored by 5.30am, according to the energy provider company Enedis. The Nice public prosecutor said a criminal investigation has been opened for 'organised arson'. On Saturday, two other installations in the Alpes Maritime department were damaged in what officials also suspected to be arson, temporarily cutting power to 160,000 homes, including events at the Cannes Film Festival. Nice mayor Christian Estrosi condemned Sunday's attack and said the city had filed a complaint. 'I strongly denounce these malicious acts targeting our country,' he said on X. He ordered all sensitive electrical infrastructure in the city to be placed under police protection. 'These actions can have serious consequences, particularly on hospitals,' Mr Estrosi said at a press briefing on Sunday. 'As long as the perpetrators haven't been caught, we will remain on high alert.'
