The lights of the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris, the capital of France, will be switched off one hour earlier than usual. The mayor of the city said that such initiatives are being taken to save electricity and other energy in the city for the coming winter.
The Eiffel Tower’s lights will be turned off an hour earlier than usual, municipal pool water temperatures will be lowered and heating of public buildings will be delayed to save energy this winter, Mayor Anne Hidalgo said Tuesday.
It has also been decided to turn off lights in public buildings in Paris at 10pm from September 23 to save electricity. This year, the electricity bill of Paris alone will come to approximately 90 million euros.
These measures are designed to meet President Emmanuel Macron’s goals. Because industries, households and municipal authorities have reduced their energy consumption by 10 percent in response to reduced Russian gas supplies and rising energy prices.
Countries around Europe are looking for ways to cut energy costs and replenish their gas stores in preparation for possible total cut-offs.
France is not as dependent on Russian gas as some of its neighbors. But nuclear reactor outages have forced the country to import a record amount of energy. As a result, the pressure on the French electricity market increased.
Anne Hidalgo says, ‘France will always be the city of light.’
The Eiffel Tower is currently lit up until 1 am. 20,000 flashing bulbs illuminate the tower every hour. So it is initially decided that the bulbs will be switched off at 11.45 pm to save 4 percent electricity consumption.
Hidalgo also said that from September 23, lights in public buildings in Paris will be turned off at 10 p.m. Water temperature in pools will be kept at 26°C to 25°C and heating in public buildings will be dialed back to 18°C.
This year, the energy bill of the French capital alone will come to 90 million euros, which is 35 million more than usual.
(September 13)