As the presidential election approaches: energy in five figures

19% renewable

In 2020, renewable energies accounted for 19,1% of gross final energy consumption in France, according to data collected by Eurostat. If this share is increasing rapidly - 14,8% in 2015 - France has failed to reach the target of 23% renewable energy in 2020 set by the European Union.

With this target, France should have ranked 10th among the 27. It is in fact only 17th, notably overtaken by Spain (21,2%), Italy (20,4%) or Germany (19,3%) whose objectives were nevertheless lower.

The Nordic countries are the European champions of renewable energies: Sweden (60,1%) is in the lead in the European Union, Iceland (83,7%) and Norway (77,4%) outside the Union.

18 nuclear power plants

Since the shutdown of the Fessenheim (Haut-Rhin) power plant in 2020, France has only operated 18 nuclear power plants, but retains the second largest fleet in the world, behind the United States.

France is even the most nuclear country for the weight of the atom in its electricity production (around 70%).

This share is however set to decrease, the country having decided to lower it to 50% by 2035, with a view to diversifying the sources of electricity production and to allow the development of renewable energies.

Only one nuclear reactor is currently under construction in the country, that of the EPR of Flamanville (Manche), which has experienced many delays and additional costs. Its start has just been postponed again, to the second quarter of 2023.

Nearly 9.000 wind turbines

France has 1.550 parks for 8.905 wind turbines, according to a report by France Wind Energy (FEE), the association which brings together professionals in the sector. These figures have almost doubled since 2014. The country then had only 4.800 wind turbines in 730 parks. On average, over the period, nearly 600 new wind turbines were commissioned each year.

According to the FEE report, Hauts-de-France and Grand Est are at the peak and "alone represent 50% of the power connected in France".

For the time being, these are only onshore wind turbines. At sea, seven projects have been awarded, some since 2012, but, from regulatory obstacles to legal remedies, none are yet in service. The first to come into operation will be that of Saint-Nazaire, at the end of 2022.

And even for onshore wind power, the sector, which has faced renewed opposition for several months, believes that the target of 34 gigawatts (GW) set for 2028 will be "difficult to achieve" at the current rate. FEE projections cap at 26,8 GW at this time.

68.000 jobs in renewables

Renewable energies employed just over 2018 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in 68.000, according to data from the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

Among these jobs, three quarters are concentrated in four sectors: wood energy (23%), heat pumps (19,1%), hydroelectricity (17,5%) and onshore wind power (15,5, 2010%). On the other hand, photovoltaics, which in 30.000 accounted for more than a third of jobs in renewables with approximately 6.000 FTEs, only employs 8,7 (XNUMX%).

Renewable workforces have generally increased slightly since 2017, supported according to the ministry "by the high level of wind turbine installations and heat pump sales", but they remain well below the peak of 2010, when they flirted with the 80.000 FTEs.

And 220.000 in nuclear

If there are no official statistics, nuclear would represent 220.000 jobs in France, or 6,7% of French industrial employment, according to Gifen, the professional union of the sector, which does not however specify whether it these are full-time equivalents.