Thousands without power in France after storm

Geert De Clercq

JANUARY 2 2018 – 4:11PM

Paris: Winter storm Carmen has cut power to about 65,000 households in western France and was moving south, power grid company Enedis said on Monday, local time.

Earlier on Monday, some 40,000 households in the Brittany region experienced power cuts but 30,000 were later reconnected said Enedis, which has mobilised 1500 staff to restore fix power lines.

Weather service Meteo France kept the French Atlantic coast areas south of Brittany on orange alert, but downgraded the threat level in most other areas of western France.

Enedis, a unit of French state-controlled utility EDF, said the storm was moving to the regions of Poitou-Charente, Pays de Loire and Aquitaine.

Winds with speeds of up to 140 kilometres per hour battered the country’s Atlantic coast in mid-afternoon.

Major power cuts or blackouts are rare in France, which produces three quarters of its power with nuclear energy.

In July 2015, some 830,000 households temporarily lost power in western France after exceptionally warm weather damaged transformers.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/thousands-without-power-in-france-after-storm-20180102-h0ceut.html

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