A complete cut off of Russian gas supply is “the most likely option”, according to Bruno Le Maire. Two weeks ago, the Economy Minister called for “quickly getting into battle order” to prepare for the worst-case scenario, namely a gas shortage next winter.
Because if the sixteen French storage sites are currently 78% full, that might not be enough. Therefore, Bercy called for anticipation, rather than suffering. In any case, this is the slogan that has been transferred to energy-intensive industries that alone account for 28% of the gas consumed in France.
“We will do our part,” Nicolás de Warren, president of the Union of Energy-Using Industries (Uniden), assured BFM Business. The sector is already organizing to voluntarily reduce its consumption by 15% in the coming months, he said.
load shedding
By anticipating in this way, energy-intensive industrialists hope to escape the nightmare scenario of a gas shortage. The plan provided by Bercy is clear: if gas were scarce, the industry could be affected by load shedding. A hierarchy of sectors is currently being studied to determine which would be the first to be affected, as Nicolas de Warren explains:
Beyond the strategic sectors, Bercy also wants to preserve those that allow growth to be supported. For their part, professionals try to identify which industries can afford shutdowns such as cement, metallurgical or glass and those that have been able to accumulate stocks.
Electricity-consuming industries also affected
But Nicolás de Warren warns: they will not be able to assume an excessive drop in gas consumption. “The industry will do its part, but we cannot assume a shock scenario” with reductions of “30 to 40%”. “It would lead to massive plant closures.”
In turn, industrial companies that consume a lot of electricity could also be affected. And for good reason, part of the electricity consumed in France is produced from gas. A production that the nuclear park will not be able to compensate given the number of reactors currently stopped.
Source: BFM TV
