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Power cuts strike western Europe
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Power cuts strike western Europe
Power cuts have struck several countries in western Europe, leaving millions of people without electricity.
Power companies said the outage started in Germany with a surge in demand prompted by cold weather, and then spread to other parts of Europe.
Some five million people in France lost power, mainly in the east of the country and including parts of Paris.
"We weren't very far from a European blackout," a senior director with French power company RTE said... (see link for more)
Is this how it starts? Underfunded, overloaded supply networks buckle under the strain of increasing demand until we're just like downtown Baghdad?
Next up: looting and food hoarding.
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That is SO likley to happen locally to me, I mean, like, the Nuclear Plant that supplies us is a bit overstretched...
But I can't believe it happened to France! They've got a great power system.
Hurry Up, Tony! Get our new Nuclear Plants underway!
You're mocking me, aren't you?
Because this summer, our spare capacity was almost exhausted, as a result of the heatwave and corresponding increase in use of fans, combined with several power stations being offline for repairs and maintenance. Presumably, it was assumed that a warm streak would reduce demand, but penny-pinching and shortsighted electricity generating management could leave us in the lurch a lot sooner than you think...
Heatwave sends power prices soaring as fans and air conditioning drain grid