Energy & grid
The subjects our engineers deal with on major projects in energy, industry and infrastructure: design, works, energy, grids, regulation, innovation. Analysis and lessons learned, written by the people who live them.
Grid connection: why industrial projects are waiting, and what is changing
More than 200 industrial projects are waiting for a connection to the French high-voltage grid. Their combined demand is close to three times the current consumption of French industry. For a project owner, grid connection has become a strategic question, to be asked when choosing the site.
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Power transformers: why lead times are exploding
A large power transformer used to take about two years to deliver. It now takes up to five. Grid operators book manufacturing slots years in advance, and projects have to build this constraint into their design from day one.
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Access to power, the new bottleneck for data centers
France produces more electricity than it consumes. Yet getting a grid connection has become the longest and most contested step of a data center project. In eighteen months, the capacity these projects have reserved with RTE has more than tripled.
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Data centers and AI: why demand will soar by 2030
Data centers currently use around 2% of France's electricity. That figure could double by 2035, and rise much further under some scenarios. Artificial intelligence is driving this change of scale. Here are the projections, and what they mean for the country's infrastructure.
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