• EcoWatt is one of the control methods invented by RTE in 2009, and recently applied on a national scale, to alert the population to forecasts of peak electricity consumption.

  • “The basic idea, very innovative for the time, was why not involve everyone in sobriety efforts?

    », Explains Ivan Saillard, co-creator of EcoWatt in 2008, to « 20 Minutes ».

  • The indicator is therefore now available to everyone, it remains to be seen how the French use it.

Generalized energy sobriety obliges, initiatives are multiplying to show its goodwill in climate matters.

The risks that weigh on a shortage of electricity have pushed the EcoWatt system to the fore, RTE, which is behind it, having signed partnerships with several TV media, including TF1 and France Télévisions.

They will broadcast this indicator in their weather reports, which allows users to see in real time the level of electricity available in the country thanks to a three-colour signal: green (normal), orange (tense), and red (very tense, synonymous with inevitable cuts if nothing is done to reduce consumption).

Since 2009, at the time only in Brittany, then in Paca, these pictograms allow companies, communities and individuals to be warned of possible tensions on the electricity network four days in advance now, and to adopt eco-gestures to reduce their consumption.

A real anti-blackout weapon!

Genesis and birth of the project

“The basic idea, very innovative for the time, was why not involve everyone in sobriety efforts?

explains Ivan Saillard, co-creator of EcoWatt in 2008, when he was director of public affairs and communication for the West region of RTE in Nantes.

At the time, Brittany was going through turbulence in terms of energy, the fault of a fragile network, a particular geographical situation and technical reasons.

“For three or four winters, it was the crisis, we risked blackouts”, details Ivan Saillard.

To ward off these threats, he is discussing with Isabelle Thomas, vice-president of the Brittany region, who has been under the socialist presidency since 2004.

In one summer, the EcoWatt indicator was born, operational from the winter of 2008-2009 in Brittany, which makes available to the general public data that has been used for years by RTE and the institutions.

“Many local authorities are joining the project and are starting to turn off the stadiums in the event of an alert, for example,” he explains.

But the indicator is only implemented in Brittany, then in 2010 in Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur.

Technically, what data is used?

In 2020, i.e. 10 years after the application of EcoWatt to the Paca region, "which presented geographical particularities similar to Brittany", according to Ivan Saillard, the indicator was finally developed on a national scale.

For subscribers to the service, an SMS sends "outage vigilance" alerts to invite everyone to reduce their electricity consumption according to peaks.



EcoWatt uses a figure, calculated by RTE, which is the forecast of the future electricity consumption of the French according to the temperatures, the calendar (holidays, weekends, etc.), and the forecast of electricity production according to the number of nuclear reactors or thermal power stations, etc., in operation.

And after machine calculations, it comes out on the weather model, a forecast for the days to come.

An indicator, and then?

“One degree below normal for the season is a consumption that increases by 2,400 MW, or the equivalent of three nuclear reactors with a power of 900 MW”, underlines RTE.

It was therefore urgent to act.

Why has this system, which has been in place for more than 10 years, and been successfully tested in several regions, not been generalized earlier then?

“It's much easier to innovate with institutional partners on a regional scale,” says Ivan Saillard.

In one summer in 2008, five partners - the regional council of Brittany, the regional prefecture, Ademe, ERDF (which has since become Enedis) and RTE, which was the pilot - came to an agreement.

At the national level, there are surely more necessary round trips and political decisions, ”he recalls.*

What savings are to be expected?

So far, RTE has communicated very little about the results of the system, except on April 4, during a very cold day, when an orange alert signal was triggered, which saved around 800 MW. according to RTE.

“In Brittany, in the early years, we observed savings of around 1 to 3%,” recalls Ivan Saillard.

And now ?

"We must now acquire the ability to concretely measure mobilization, we have the technical means," says Ivan Saillard.

Who admits, he who has never completely let go of his baby, working on the subject.

"Why not evaluate it on a more local scale," he suggests.

What are the effects in Nantes?

Reindeer ?

In Paris ?

Indeed, after the com operation, the French want to know if their eco-gestures are a drop in the bucket or a real investment for a greener planet.

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