MOSCOW, July 14 — Major French cities are likely to face blackouts during winter this year and the next one with the growing energy crisis in Europe, reported Sputnik, quoting media reports.
Almost all European countries are preparing for possible blackouts and their leaders hope that the upcoming winter would be mild, the Euractiv news outlet reported on Wednesday, citing a source in corporate risk management.
The RTE French transmission system operator told Euractiv that it was currently difficult to predict the blackouts this winter because of the high uncertainty.
Later, senior executive of the EDF energy company Marc Benayoun dismissed the reports about possible blackouts.
“I do not believe that we are going to face a disaster,” he said at a Senate hearing.
Benayoun acknowledged that the situation was difficult but expressed a belief that it would not come to blackouts.
EDF President-Director General Patrick Pouyanne has called on the French people to minimise the consumption of electricity by keeping the room temperature at the level of 17 Celsius degrees (over 62 degrees Fahrenheit) and the air conditioners at the level of 26 Celsius degrees despite of the heat.
Europe is now entering into an energy crisis amid the Russian military operation in Ukraine and the sanctions against Moscow that may result in the suspension of Russian gas supplies to the EU.
