The French must reduce their energy consumption, which will allow the country to regain room for maneuver and face future peaks in consumption, write the leaders of Total, EDF and Engie in a column published in the Sunday newspaper.
Referring to the sharp drop in Russian gas deliveries in the context of the war in Ukraine, as well as the tensions on part of European electricity production capacities, the first three French energy companies consider that “we must, collectively, act on the demand for energy by reducing our consumption to give us some leeway”, say Catherine MacGregor, Managing Director of Engie, Jean-Bernard Lévy, CEO of EDF and Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of Total.
Act this summer
“We will need it to manage future peaks in consumption and to cushion the technical hazards or geopolitical shocks that we may have to face. Acting this summer will allow us to be better prepared to tackle next winter and in particular to preserve our reserves of gas,” they add.
“We therefore call for awareness and collective and individual action so that each of us – each consumer, each company – changes their behavior and immediately limits their consumption of energy, electricity, gas and petroleum products.”
France wants to fill its gas reserves by the end of the summer
France aims to fill its gas reserves to 100% by the end of the summer to cope with the tensions expected during next winter and it intends in the longer term to equip itself with a large terminal. floating LNG carrier in Le Havre in order to reduce its dependence on gas from Russia, Elisabeth Borne announced on Thursday.
While Russia, subject to Western sanctions due to the war in Ukraine, limits its gas deliveries to European Union countries, the French government published a decree on Sunday extending to December 31 the “tariff shield” on the gas.