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Paris blackouts caused by transformer fault

The Local France
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Paris blackouts caused by transformer fault
hoto by LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP

Power cuts that plunged parts of central Paris into darkness on Thursday night were caused by a fault in a transformer, said operator Enedis.

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Around 65,000 households in central Paris - mostly in the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 14th arrondissements - were affected by the blackouts, which also cut off street lights.

The cut happened at around 10pm, and power was gradually restored to all areas by 1am.

 

It comes as France is braced for the possibility of planned power cuts due to energy shortages - although the grid network RTE says that this won't happen before the end of the year.

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Households will be notified the day before about planned power outages - which will take place in either the morning of the evening for a maximum of two hours.

READ ALSO What you need to know about planned power cuts in France

The Paris power outages were caused by "a technical incident on a transformer of Enedis" which led to the cutting of a high-voltage buried power line of 225 000 volts, according to RTE.

 

In some areas only households were affected, while in others street lights and traffic lights were also hit by the outage. 

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