A group of supermarket chains in France has warned that the country is facing “significant” fresh food waste in the event that there are power cuts over the winter period.
Additionally, rural areas are much more likely to be affected by said energy shutoffs.
Last week it was reported that France’s energy regulator was preparing for potential power outages over the winter due to the ongoing energy crisis.
France may face power shortages this winter https://t.co/3hI5pm1Jhw pic.twitter.com/lzzce6IP0e
— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) December 1, 2022
While businesses and citizens are set to be notified about any potential power cuts at 9:30 p.m. the day before, some supermarket operators say this is not enough time to react.
Franck Charton is general delegate of Perifem, a federation of French supermarket chains, and he explained to France Info.
Coupures d'électricité : "Il y aura un gâchis conséquent" des "produits frais", prévient une fédération de la grande distributionhttps://t.co/ysfRrD3ZZE pic.twitter.com/WXqmBOBzAl
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) December 1, 2022
“We have never experienced this situation,” he said.
“Stores are very poorly equipped today with generators. We will not throw away frozen products that have for the most part more thermal inertia. On the other hand, for fresh products that do not last two hours, there will indeed be a significant waste.”
According to the office of French Prime Minister Esliabethe Borne, 40% of French residents would not be impacted by power cuts, provided they lived in cities close to priority infrastructure sch as hospitals, fire departments and police stations.
However, rural areas are set to be impacted at a greater scale than urban areas.
The news comes amid the ongoing European energy crisis, as the EU’s energy agency warns that the chances of Ireland experiencing power outages has doubled.
Risk of Irish winter power outages has doubled, EU agency warns https://t.co/xluMHzwMZs
— Irish Independent (@Independent_ie) December 2, 2022
According to the European association for the cooperation of transmission system operators for electricity (ENTSO-E), Ireland facing the second highest risk in Europe as regards energy supply.
The group claimed that the Irish power system has been in a state of alert seven times since last winter, which means there is a “reasonable possibility” of outages.
ENTSO-E claims that the deterioration of Ireland’s aging gas power plants, disruptions to nuclear power in France, and reduced coal supply in Germany and Poland would all have an impact on the country’s power generation.
The news comes as last year the ESB confirmed that it was planning to demolish its “pristine” power plant sites at Shannonbridge in West Offaly and Lough Ree in Lanesborough in order to construct “renewable energy centres.”
The semi-state company say the demolition works will assist the State in reaching its emission reduction goals by 2030.
ESB confirms it will demolish its two ‘pristine’ power plants in the Midlands #gripthttps://t.co/zJdQMgUDVO
— gript (@griptmedia) June 23, 2021