Maximilien Carlier (in Tournai), edited by Gauthier Delomez 3:57 p.m., December 2, 2022

An electrical link between France and Belgium was inaugurated this Friday in Tournai, on the Belgian side.

The specificity of this link is that it has superior technology which should make it possible to limit the risk of power cuts this winter.

The president of RTE gives an update on this inauguration, and any load shedding to come.

The birth of an ultra-modern interconnection between Belgium and France.

This Friday was inaugurated between Avelgem (Belgium) and Avelin (France), a 2.0 electrical connection: with doubled cables, its performance increases from 3 GW to 6 GW and allows more current to be transmitted.

In total, more than three million French customers will be better supplied thanks to the installation of this superior technology.

An installation which falls at the best of times for France, underlines Xavier Piechaczyk, president of RTE, the manager of the electricity network.

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Indeed, France will be importing a lot of electricity this winter to avoid the blackout, in a context of energy crisis and possible load shedding to be expected.

The French warned three days before a cut

"The cuts are not inevitable. We will warn the French three days before", he assures first at the microphone of Europe 1, specifying that "the French, companies and local authorities will have three days to get organized and do the right eco-gestures on D-Day."

According to him, potential power cuts can be avoided if everyone adopts these good habits and reduces their energy consumption.

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Xavier Piechaczyk concedes that it is to best avoid the risk of load shedding that new interconnections are put into service "as quickly as possible".

"It's additional import capacity", he underlines, "and therefore it lowers the Ecowatt red days", evokes the president of RTE, explaining that a red alert means the programming of a cut of electricity.

At the microphone of Europe 1, Xavier Piechaczyk calls on everyone to mobilize, and recalls that the risk of Ecowatt red is correlated to the temperature it is outside.