France and Belgium reinforce a line to avoid cuts this winter
The 23 kilometer power line between Avelgem (Belgium) and Avelin (between Seclin and Pont-à-Marcq) was reinforced and applied this Friday morning in Tournai (Belgium), on the French border. the doubling of the quantity of electricity transportedimagined eleven years ago, could thus allow the RTE manager to avoid power cuts this winter.
The line provides twice as many households
“It’s particularly good because as you know the electricity supply is a bit tight for the month of January. We’re going to need our European neighbors to be able to help us have electricity for all French people this winter. !” rejoices Laurent Cantat-Lampin, the regional director of the RTE manager. Six million households can be supplied thanks to the doubling of the line, i.e. the number of inhabitants of Hauts-de-France, but the imported electricity will be dispatched throughout the country.
This reinforcement, from 3 to 6 GW, is made possible thanks to new high performance electrical conductors. “We changed the cables and these cables heat up less, so we can pass more current without the line dropping and getting closer to the ground”, explains Laurent Cantat-Lampin. The project cost 90 million euros, shared between the managers of the two countries.
Coal-fired electricity?
Electricity will be imported from Belgium but also, indirectly, other European countries. “In our business, we don’t know where the electrons come from. We import energy from Germany via the Netherlands and we also have direct interconnections between Germany and Belgium”indicates Chris Peeters, the director of Elia, the Belgian manager.
In Germany, nearly 30% of the electricity is produced from coal, compared to 1 to 2% in France. But the two managers insist at the same time on the opportunity to develop renewable energies and to evolve “towards a low-carbon electricity mix” through this cooperation.