Power outage in Paris, France during the Olympics suspected to be extensive cable damage! ZMS Review

DUBAI, UAE, July 31, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Between the evening of July 27 and the early morning hours of July 28, Paris time, there was a sudden flood of tweets and photos on the social media platform X about a power outage in Paris. Because it coincided with the Paris Olympics, which had just opened, it quickly shot to the top of the hit list.

In the afternoon of July 28, the power company ENEDIS announced on X that the main cause of the blackout was a "technical anomaly that led to a grid failure," which lasted only 10 minutes. In the capital, Paris, 85,000 residents in the 1st, 9th, 17th, and 18th arrondissements were affected and plunged into complete darkness.

Along with the Olympics, there's a test for Paris' electricity

The issue of air conditioning for the 2024 Paris Olympics has sparked all sorts of discussion. The Olympic organizing committee has now allowed delegations to bring and install their air conditioning.

At the same time, this ancient and romantic city is about to host tens of thousands of athletes, more than 6,500 media journalists, and related staff, as well as millions of tourists and spectators from all over the world. Does France have a power system large enough to sustain such a huge electricity demand?

France is Europe's number one exporter of electricity, which is predominantly nuclear. This year's Olympic Games are said to be the "greenest" in history, the organizing committee said that all competition venues are 100% powered by renewable energy, which, it seems, has nothing to do with nuclear power.

Moreover, due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and extreme weather, the power systems of many cities, including Paris, have been greatly challenged over the past few years, and there have been several major blackouts.

Can France withstand the electricity for the 2024 Paris Olympics?

The Olympic Village relies on solar power for its electricity supply

According to the OCOG, Electricité de France (EDF) supplies electricity for the Games.
The main operating center of the Paris Olympics is powered by biogas and solar energy. The main venues are completed by six wind farms as well as two solar power plants, while some of the more remotely located venues are handed over to biofuels, hydrogen, or lithium batteries for power supply.

As for the athletes living near the Seine River in the Olympic Village, EDF has installed a 400 square-meter solar power plant on the Seine River, which is a movable and detachable power plant with a design capacity of 78 kW. According to EDF, this is enough to satisfy the electricity needs of 82 apartment buildings in the Olympic Village.

In addition, EDF has installed nearly 1,000 square meters of solar photovoltaics¹ on the roofs of bus stops in the Olympic Village to power reception and information centers for international delegations.

The Paris Organizing Committee has set sustainable goals for the Games, hoping to reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent compared to the previous two Summer Games and to create a green Olympics. Measures include "giving up air-conditioning" and utilizing a geothermal cooling system to pump cold water into the apartments, allowing for a temperature difference of "6-10 degrees Celsius" between indoors and outdoors.

However, this measure caused controversy among the athletes from various countries, and eventually, the Organizing Committee compromised by allowing each delegation to bring and install their air conditioners.

Of course, although many delegations have installed air conditioners, the president of the Paris Organizing Committee, Tony Estanguet, said that France had succeeded in reducing and controlling the carbon emissions of the event's organizing departments and that it had achieved the desired goals.

There have been several major blackouts "before"

France has the world's highest proportion of nuclear power generation in the country, according to the International Energy Agency data, France's nuclear power generation in 2021 accounted for 69% of the total power generation, far more than hydroelectric power, wind power generation, and natural gas power generation². Although the French government has greatly encouraged renewable energy generation in recent years, the proportion of nuclear power generation in France will still be as high as 67.2% until 2025.

Data source: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=55259

Common sense dictates that France should not be strained by electricity supply.

However, due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, extreme weather, inflation, and other factors, France's power supply and power system have repeatedly experienced a variety of conditions in recent years.

In 2022, of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict impact, coupled with nearly half of the country's nuclear power plants suffering drought, and old and dilapidated shutdown, France was once "reduced" to the exchange of natural gas and Germany for electricity.

During the fall and winter seasons of that year, the French Macron government had to ask the entire power-consuming industries to reduce the use of electricity, calling on the public to turn off the lights early, just to save power as much as possible.

That winter, France was even forced to restart coal power plants.

In October 2023, nearly 300,000 households in France's Val département and Alpes-Maritimes experienced a prolonged power outage, plunging cities such as Cannes, Nice, and Antibes into a "state of darkness" for up to two hours. In Cannes, the blackout interrupted a women's volleyball match, and several local sporting events were also disrupted, according to the website France Info.

In November 2023, Storm Charlotte hit France, with the consequence that 1.2 million homes in northwestern France were without power. Grid manager Enidis said in a statement that Storm Summerland "caused severe damage to the French public distribution grid."

An over-reliance on nuclear power has also left France relatively behind in the development of renewable energy. Although the French government has repeatedly declared its intention to develop renewable energy programs, the proportion remains relatively small compared to the French pride in nuclear power, adding up to less than half of the total.

"Nuclear energy is part of France's vital interests. The French would rather leave Europe than turn their backs on nuclear energy." A senior French official has said, and this represents the view of many French people, who are unwilling to give up the advantages of nuclear power they already have because of renewable energy.

With the 2024 Paris Olympics, which are claimed to use 100% green energy, France is also hoping to use this as a way to become a major player in the energy transition. Will it go well this time?

Public questions about power supply capacity

As early as December 9, 2022, according to the Spanish newspaper "Abbessa" website reported, in the evening of 8 Paris city center about 125,000 households suffered a power outage, the French Minister of Economy, Interior Minister, and other statements, which was intended to "pacify" public opinion, but on the 9th to increase the mood of anxiety and uncertainty.

Source: https://energycentral.com/news/blackout%C2%A0some-125000-parisian-households-temporarily-without-power

According to reports, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said on the afternoon of the 9th, "We can get through the winter without power cuts or blackouts." This message was naturally widely questioned. Analysts and public opinion asked in unison, "How are we to believe this optimistic statement when Thursday's blackout was the unexpected event that lacked consideration?"

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said, "We are doing everything we can to avoid power cuts and blackouts." The minister's comments still raised many skeptics in light of what happened in central Paris on the 8th.

A few days earlier, the Minister of Energy Transition, Agnès-Parnier-Lunachet, had warned that Paris could experience these disruptions as a result of "random" cuts in electricity supply. Suspicions were confirmed when, on the evening of the 8th, some 125,000 Parisian households suffered power cuts, reigniting heated debates about the possibility of further blackouts in the coming weeks as a consequence of the energy crisis and the country's loss of power sovereignty.

Although the power company involved responded quickly, restoring power in less than an hour and issuing an announcement that it was due to a "technical fault", many people still say the city's power supply is not as good as it used to be. However, many people are still wondering whether the city's power supply capacity is stable. In the wake of the accident, the debate over electricity has not stopped, and France's power system continues to be frequently tested.
French President Emmanuel Macron was forced to take a stand, calling for "calm, prudence and responsibility".

Extreme weather aggravates power shortages in Europe

What should be learned from the French blackout is that France, as a developed country in Europe, in the development of power levels and people's daily electricity consumption based on slowly have a certain pressure, which is not only France needs to face the problem, but also the whole of Europe need to be vigilant about the problem, that is, the extreme climate is continuing to aggravate the shortage of electricity in Europe.

According to Xinhua News Agency, Paris, since the beginning of summer this year, Europe has sustained high-temperature weather, most of the region is drier than ever, some countries the precipitation fell below the record. High temperatures and drought leading to a large increase in demand for electricity at the same time the production of electricity has a serious impact on Europe's power shortages further aggravating the predicament.

France is Europe's largest nuclear power producer, nuclear power accounts for about 70% of the country's total power generation. Due to the maintenance of old nuclear power plants and other issues, the country's large nuclear reactor power generation has fallen to a low point in decades. Since the summer, the water level of rivers used to cool nuclear reactors has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years, making nuclear power production even more difficult. The latest report from France's Electricity Transmission Network showed that France's nuclear energy generated 20.1 terawatt-hours (1 terawatt-hour is 1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity) of electricity in June, well below the 27.7 terawatt-hours generated in the same month last year.

Data source: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/edfs-french-nuclear-output-up-nearly-23-june-2023-07-10/

Hydropower is the second largest source of electricity in France. According to the French electricity transmission network company reported that, due to months of drought and little rain, France's hydroelectric power generation in June was only 4 terawatt-hours, "the lowest level in the same period in history".

The northern basin of Italy's longest river, the Po, is home to the country's main hydroelectric power plant. The rare hot weather and precipitation significantly reduced the impact of the wave of the river level recently fell to the lowest level in 70 years. According to the Italian Federation of Public Utilities statistics, from January to May this year, the country's hydroelectric power generation than the same period last year decreased by 40%.

Developed hydropower in Norway has "European battery", also known as Europe's main power exporter. Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Authority statistics show that, as of the end of July, the national average reservoir storage rate of 67.9%, while the average level of the same period in the past 10 years for 77.7%.

Coal power production is also affected. High temperatures and drought have reduced the water level of the Rhine River, affecting coal transportation. A few days ago, the Rhine's German section of the lower reaches of the Emmerich near the lowest water level in history, the Cologne section of a water depth of less than two meters. A local shipping company told the media that it is still navigable, but the loading can only be about a quarter of the capacity.

German energy giant Uniper said power production at the company's two coal-fired power plants in western Germany could be abnormal until early September because coal supplies could not be guaranteed. Germany's Baden-Württemberg Energy said the low water level of the Rhine River has led to higher coal transportation costs, which in turn increase the input costs of coal-fired power plants.

Spain and Portugal have capped the price of coal used for power generation since mid-June, but the average price of coal used for power generation across Europe is still rising.

As a result of the reduction in power generation, electricity prices have risen sharply in many parts of Europe recently, with prices in France and Germany close to record highs. Some companies are concerned that electricity prices are expected to soar to unprecedented levels this winter.

However, regardless of how power supply develops in various countries around the world, cables, as an integral part of delivering electricity³, look forward to the green development of global power levels.

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¹ https://vericable.com/cable-products/solar-cable/
² https://vericable.com/oil-gas-wire-cable/
³ https://vericable.com/cable-products/