RTE to invest 100 billion euros over 15 years for France's third major electrification plan

RTE, the public company that manages high-voltage lines, will invest 100 billion euros over 15 years, a project unprecedented in half a century, to renew, modernize and resize the network that connects nuclear power plants and renewable energy parks (wind farms, photovoltaic panels, etc.) to cities, countryside and factories.

This involves installing lines that are resistant to heat waves, but also building a network capable of absorbing the increase in electricity consumption, as the French vehicle fleet becomes electrified or as data centers necessary for the growing use of artificial intelligence are established.

This program, essential "to successfully phase out fossil fuels" by 2050, is only the third major electrification plan in France, recalls Chloé Latour, director of strategy and regulation at RTE.

The French electricity transmission network, "an essential infrastructure for the country's economic life" "is now of a certain age", sometimes up to 105 years old, she emphasizes.

"In 2030, the lines built after the Second World War will be over 80 years old. These are the lines that enabled the industrialization of the country. In 2040, (those) built as part of the Messmer plan (launched in 1974, Editor's note) will in turn be 70 years old. These are the lines that accompanied the construction of the nuclear park," adds the manager.

To remedy this, RTE will replace 23.500 km of lines and 85.000 pylons, or a quarter of the overhead network, by 2040 and adapt them to the increasingly extreme heat waves and XNUMX-year floods of tomorrow.

"This major renewal program is an opportunity to do two in one," she emphasizes. "Each infrastructure that we are going to renew, we are also going to adapt it to climate change. (Those) that we will build between 2025 and 2040 will be partly still in service in 2100. They must therefore be able to withstand the phenomena of a climate at +4°C," according to the trajectory planned by the State.

At the same time, the network must be resized, as the share of electricity will represent more than 50% of France's energy needs by 2050, compared to just over a quarter today.

"(Electricity) consumption is set to increase to replace fossil fuel consumption," Xavier Piechaczyk, chairman of the board of RTE, explained to AFP, recalling that the importation of gas and oil cost 64 billion euros last year.

Decarbonization of the economy

53 billion euros will be devoted to the connections necessary for the decarbonization of the economy: those of future offshore wind farms and new EPR nuclear reactors, new consumption in industrial port zones and data centers dedicated to AI.

RTE has also defined three levels of priority for industry: the first concerns the major ports of Dunkirk, Le Havre and Fos-sur-Mer, laboratories of green reindustrialization.

"There is global competition between ports to accommodate the industry of tomorrow," underlines Thomas Veyrenc, general director of economy, strategy and finance at RTE.

Work for the "priority 2" zones will be triggered when there are investment decisions from the manufacturers concerned.

The network, shaped like a spider's web, will also have to transport the flows from future offshore wind farms, especially in the West, to large industries, further East, and the rest of Europe. Hence the need to strengthen its "backbone", the very high voltage lines of 400.000 volts.

In total, 16.500 km of lines to be reinforced or built, according to a "doctrine of the least footprint" to "limit" those in virgin sites, says Xavier Piechaczyk. Given their impact on the environment, a consultation will be organized by the National Commission for Public Debate.

As massive as it is, this plan will only be felt "marginally" on the bills of the French, assures RTE. And conversely, if "we do not carry out this investment plan, then we will pay billions of euros in congestion (of the network, editor's note) like the Germans (...) currently", underlines Chloé Latour.