The day of discussions organised by RTE and the ATIP was held at the headquarters of the Norske Skog company in Golbey (in France’s Lorraine region). Forty industry professionals gathered at the heart of the factory. This day, hosted by RTE, offered an opportunity to discuss energy markets and access to the grid system, as well as power quality, connected metering and the new digital service offerings proposed by RTE.

“RTE is a long-time, top-quality partner,” explained ATIP’s director, Daniel Gomez.

This day devoted to open discussion was an opportunity for RTE to gain a better understanding of the challenges faced by the paper industry so that it can optimise its response.  Indeed, a change in an electrical parameter, such as a voltage drop for example, can have an impact on the entire production line, even though the power supply may not be interrupted. This can result in a lack of precision in printing, which can lead to scrapping a large part of production, and ultimately to an economic loss for the customer. As a result, the quality of the power supply is a key economic challenge for the paper industry, which employs 12,430 people.

But even though the paper industry is energy intensive, it also encompasses a number of solutions. Paper mills can work in an optimal manner with the option of relieving the network (Implementing capacity mechanisms: initial certification of generation facilities and demand response mechanisms).

RTE organised this day with ATIP around several motivational topics. The agenda included a presentation of RTE’s various product lines and how they can be used to optimise the paper industry’s performance (e.g. the market product line, grid access and tariffs, security of supply, connections and smart metering).

“A one-off operation, like this technical support day, is a good thing. But we should organise more long-term relations. We are extremely favourable to such an approach with RTE,” Daniel Gomez explained.

“We intend to continue this collaborative approach,” said RTE’s marketing director, Hervé Mignon, “since we are looking to improve our service by helping our customers to optimise their performance.” With this goal in mind, an ATIP energy club, co-chaired by RTE, is in the process of being formed.

• 29 TWh of heat consumed
• 7 TWh of electricity consumed
• 1600 GWh of electricity generated

June 01, 2017