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French power cut shows southeast vulnerable-Govt

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Nov 7, 2008
France must make power supply in its southeast more secure, the energy ministry said after a storm hit a high-voltage line between Marseille and Nice and caused a major three-hour power cut in the region on Monday.

Although the 1,500-megawatt outage was triggered by storms, it was the proof that the region suffered from a structural vulnerability, the ministry said in a press release.

"This is why the State Minister is calling for a working meeting in the next two weeks to examine measures to secure power supply in the region," the ministry added.

French power grid RTE has called the southeast an "electric peninsula" with only 40 percent of its consumption produced in the region and only one 400,000-volt line.

"In case of strong consumption or a big incident, the region remains exposed to strong outage risks," RTE and local authorities said on a website dedicated to the issue.

The region affected to varying degrees by the cut includes the four cities of Marseille, Nice, Avignon and Toulon and has a population of more than 4 million people.

The grid has long tried to secure electricity supply in the region but its attempts have failed in the face of fierce opposition from local environmentalists.

Heavy rains swept across the southeast region over the weekend, causing flooding and important material damages.

"This kind of rise of the water levels happens only a few times per century," French weather forecaster Meteo France said on its website.
Source: Guardian