How does SNCF Réseau prepare for a rolling blackout?
When demand for electricity is high, power suppliers can implement rolling blackouts—intentional, planned outages—to alleviate strain on the grid. How do these measures impact our operations? Read on to find out.
In 2022, several events caused difficulties in electricity production and supply. As a result, to prevent power outages, RTE, the electricity transmission system operator, prepared to implement scheduled “rolling blackouts”—i.e., voluntarily disconnecting customers from the power supply on parts of the grid.
At SNCF Réseau, we got out ahead of the problem, implementing measures so we’re ready for rolling blackouts if and when they occur.
Which of our facilities would be impacted?
High voltage lines (including catenaries supplying electricity to trains), would not be affected by rolling blackouts. However, our low voltage systems would. These notably include:
- Stations: lighting, lifts, moving staircases, information display screens, and fire safety systems
- Wifi and internet networks
- Tracks: switches and crossings, signalling, level crossings
- Train maintenance centres
What about train traffic?
At SNCF Réseau, we only maintain train services in areas affected by rolling blackouts if we’re certain power supply for the line and all facilities can be guaranteed—or provided in an emergency.
What happens when a rolling blackout is enforced?
- Three days before a potential blackout, RTE issues a warning, via Écowatt, about possible outages across the country.
- The day before a confirmed blackout, SNCF Réseau assesses its impact on the railway network. Once the energy supplier informs us which areas will be affected, we announce which lines will remain open and, finally, which trains will be running the next day.
- On the day of the scheduled outage, we activate our blackout plan and suspend traffic on the affected lines.
- Next day, service only resumes once all facilities have been checked by SNCF Réseau’s teams.
What exactly is Écowatt?
Écowatt is an “electricity weather forecast” system. It provides three signals to indicate the state of the electricity grid:
- Green: The situation is normal and electricity consumption is balanced—supply meets demand.
- Orange: The grid is under stress, but power cuts are unlikely. RTE asks users to help the environment by reducing their consumption to lower the risk of power outages.
- Red: The grid is under significant stress. During red alert periods, if electricity consumption does not decrease, RTE turns the power off and asks Enedis to implement rolling blackouts.
That can mean reducing voltage by 5%, or even temporarily interrupting power-intensive industrial activities.
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