Transcription
Winter promises to be very difficult in France this year. France, like the rest of the world, is going through an energy crisis. There is a shortage of energy in the world, that is to say, there is a lack of energy. A shortage is a lack of something. And this shortage was caused by the sharp increase in energy demand with the economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic and it was amplified with the war in Ukraine which makes Russian gas imports very uncertain.
The French Government is therefore afraid that there will not be enough energy to get through the winter of 2022-2023, that there will not be enough electricity to heat the French people and meet all their needs during Winter. Indeed, in addition to the global energy shortage already mentioned, there are additional factors in France that affect the supply of electricity and that this year, electricity production is likely to be particularly low.
In today's video, we will therefore try to understand together why electricity production is likely to be so low this year in France and what are the solutions proposed by the Government, the recommendations of the Government, to deal with this problem. If you are new to the channel, welcome my name is Elsa. I remind you that if you want to work on your French with this video and with all my other videos, you have access to the complete transcription of the video, the vocabulary list, and exercises to better integrate vocabulary into the Club Piece of French, I leave you all the details in the info bar.
So what are these factors that affect electricity production in France? To understand the problem, you have to look at how electricity is produced in France. In France, the production of electricity is provided largely, for the most part, by nuclear power plants. Nuclear energy is the first source of energy in France and it represents 70% of electricity production. The problem is that today, almost half of nuclear reactors are either under maintenance or shut down. So maintenance is something quite normal. But normally maintenance is done in summer. Except that because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the maintenance for 2020 and 2021 has been postponed, which means that it is not certain that all the reactors will be in operation during the winter and therefore this will cause a fall in the production of electricity from nuclear energy, and it is even estimated that this will be the lowest production for 30 years.
The second source of electricity production in France is hydraulic energy with 12% of production. Except that here again, we are going to have a lower production this year because of the summer of 2022. The summer of 2022 was very hot, there was a drought which affected water reserves and therefore we're going to have a decline in hydropower generation this year. All these reasons combined with the global energy shortage mean that the electricity supply in France this winter will be lower than usual.
On the other hand, in winter, we have an increase in the demand for electricity. Why? Quite simply because the days are getting shorter, the days are getting shorter, so more electricity is needed to illuminate, for lighting, light. Above all, it is cold, so energy is needed to heat homes and buildings. We therefore need more energy in winter and the French Government is afraid, the French Government is afraid, that there is not enough energy, that there is not enough electricity to meet the request, and therefore that there are power cuts, power cuts, that is to say a stoppage of the power supply. It will also depend on the temperature it will be this winter because the colder the winter, the more heating will be needed and therefore the more energy and electricity we will need.
Another important thing to understand is that demand varies from day to day and especially from hour to hour. It is stronger in the morning between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., and especially in the evening between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., when everyone is at home, and it is above all these peaks that we will have to overcome to avoid power cuts.
To respond to this energy crisis, the Government has announced an energy sobriety plan. Sobriety, which means moderation, which means a form of austerity, is really the watchword of the Government, that is to say the instruction, the instruction, given by the Government, sobriety. This sobriety plan contains measures that concern all the major sectors of the economy and daily life, and it calls for general mobilization, for the mobilization of the entire population, of all businesses, of all cities, to avoid power outages this winter.
The government has also launched a communication campaign entitled "Every gesture counts" which encourages the French to pay attention to their energy consumption, with in particular three gestures: I lower, I turn off, I shift. I lower the heating. The government recommends an indoor temperature of 19 degrees to achieve energy savings. I turn off the lights in unused rooms. I turn off and unplug my devices when they are not in use. And finally, I shift. As I explained to you previously, the risk of power cuts is especially during peak hours, when there is strong pressure on the electrical network. The Government therefore recommends staggering, i.e. shifting in time, the use of household appliances, such as the washing machine or the dishwasher outside peak hours, and for example planning a machine in the afternoon or at night when electricity is more available and cheaper.
All these measures can also be applied in cities and in companies. For example, in some cities, conventional light bulbs are replaced by LED bulbs which are much less energy-intensive, which consume much less energy, and in other cities, the lights in the street are turned off between midnight and 5 a.m. for example, to save energy.
What will happen if there is no balance between supply and demand? For example, one moment there is a peak of cold and therefore a peak of demand, there may be an imbalance between supply and demand, so too many requests for not enough offers, what will happen in this case? In this case, it will be necessary to cut the power, but this will be done strategically. We will cut the current on a small part of the network, the time to pass the peak of demand, and then we will restore the current and it will not be a generalized and permanent power cut, it will just be a temporary power cut, at a place.
All these measures that we have talked about are not measures only for the winter of 2022-2023 to avoid power cuts. In fact, these are measures that we will have to put in place on a permanent basis to reduce our energy consumption and deal with the real problems, the real emergency, that is to say climate change. And besides, the objective of the sobriety plan is not limited to this winter, but its objective is to reduce energy consumption by 10% by 2024, to achieve the objective of carbon neutrality on the horizon. 2050.
That's all for this video, I hope you liked it, that you were interested, that you learned things. What is the situation in your country? Has your government put in place measures to deal with this energy crisis? I invite you to leave me a comment in French using the vocabulary of the video and I'll see you very soon for a new video! Bye!