A mobilization with consequences. The strike movement of EDF agents, which began on Sunday in Guadeloupe, left 46,000 homes without electricity on Tuesday evening due to “a deficit in electricity production”, EDF Guadeloupe indicated in a press release on Wednesday.
“The electrical system is experiencing a production deficit, particularly due to the unavailability of eight engines at the Pointe Jarry power station,” the company said in a press release.
For two days, a strike has pitted the agents of EDF Production électrique insulaire (PEI) – which produces nearly 70% of the electricity in Guadeloupe via a diesel power plant – against their management. The cause is “persistent situations that do not comply with the end-of-conflict protocol” signed in February 2023, after a 61-day strike, recalled FE-CGTG union delegate Nathanael Verin in the strike notice sent in August. Negotiations are currently being held under the leadership of the Labor Department.
“Rotating load shedding”
“In order to avoid a widespread incident, rolling blackouts in two-hour increments are underway,” announced EDF, which is also calling for “limiting consumption,” specifying that it is using “all available sources of production.”
Guadeloupe, a non-interconnected area, produces its electricity via several sources: the majority by diesel thermal power station (68.6% of production), the rest coming from renewable energies (biomass, geothermal, wind, photovoltaic, hydraulic, etc.), the production of which is not sufficient to balance the supply and demand for electricity on the archipelago.
