RTE also relies on connected homes to reduce energy consumption

"The solutions exist", underlined the chairman of the executive board of the manager of the French electricity transmission network, Xavier Piechaczyk, considering that the "collective challenge" was now "the massive and rapid deployment" of these technologies.

Only 6% of tertiary buildings (offices or shops) of more than 1.000 m2 in France are equipped with functional and recent management tools for ventilation, heating or lighting. As for private housing, 12% used management or scheduling solutions in 2018.

On a winter's day, these buildings nevertheless represent "more than 70%" of French electricity consumption, according to RTE, noting that they could represent a crucial lever in the event of tensions on the network and Ecowatt alert.

"Cutouts are not inevitable," said Mr. Piechaczyk, while RTE regularly reports the delay of tertiary buildings in terms of energy savings.

Intelligent systems – sockets, thermostats or connected heaters – allow considerable savings, noted RTE during a press conference, alongside the Gimelec and Ignes federations of manufacturers offering energy management tools.

For tertiary buildings, energy consumption goes from 300 kilowatt hours per square meter per year to 180 kWh/m2 with the simple installation of centralized management tools, explained Laurent Bataille, president of Gimelec and the Schneider Electric France group. .

RTE now hopes that more and more buildings will automate their consumption according to Ecowatt alerts thanks to home automation installations, which will reduce the temperature or shift the heating schedules.

A test conducted by RTE on four buildings, including its own head office, suggests a potential reduction in consumption by a third with the reduction of ventilation, the immobilization of certain lifts or lighting cuts.

"It's not medium or long term, it's for sale," said Mr. Piechaczyk, a connected electrical outlet in his hand.