Electricity in France in 2023, a year of records

Thanks to renewable production at its highest, recourse to fossil fuels at its lowest and a continued decline in consumption, the French electricity sector posted an exceptionally low level of greenhouse gas emissions last year. .

Historically low level of emissions

Greenhouse gas emissions from the French electricity system in 2023 reached their historic minimum since the early 1950s at 16,1 Mt of CO2. This figure reflects the progression of wind and solar energy, the recovery of nuclear energy, a low-emission energy source, and the decline of thermal production based on fossil fuels.

Unit CO2 emissions per kWh drop by almost 40% compared to 2022 and stand at 32g. This very low level of carbon intensity allows France to join, according to RTE, the select club of European countries with the lowest emissions (Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Austria), all four of which have large hydraulic capacities.

Solar and wind at the top

On the production side, renewable energies continue to develop and, moreover, “the weather conditions were favorable for wind production” notes RTE in its annual report. Result: a record year for wind power at 50,7 TWh as well as solar power at 21,5 TWh. These two energies collectively represented 14,6% of electricity production in France, which amounted to 494 TWh.

“The wind sector in particular has once again become the third production sector ahead of gas”, behind nuclear (64,8%) and hydraulic (11,9%), and “its production volume is getting closer and closer of that of the hydraulic sector", underlines RTE. The development of wind and solar farms, however, remains below the objectives set by the Multi-year Energy Program (PPE) for 2023, i.e. 22,8 GW installed at the end of 2023 instead of 26,5 GW for wind power. and 19 GW instead of 20,1 GW for solar.

Nuclear power and dams are on the rise

The year 2023 was above all marked by improvement after a dark 2022. Hydropower recovered significantly after a particularly dry year in 2022: production stood at 58,8 TWh compared to 49,6 TWh in 2022, its lowest level since the drought of 1976.

Entangled in 2022 in the stress corrosion crisis, nuclear power, with a production of 320,4 TWh "has found characteristics closer to historical ones, while remaining a gap compared to the years before the crisis", notes RTE . In 2022, production had fallen to a historically low level since 1988, at 279 TWh.

Coal and fuel oil at their lowest

Fossil thermal production recorded its second historic low since 2023 in 2000. Taking into account the drop in consumption, the better availability of nuclear and hydraulic power but also the high wind production observed in the peak months demand (January, March, November and December), gas power plants were less in demand. Production amounted to 30 TWh, or 6,7% of the total. “Gas should remain in fourth place for the long term”, behind nuclear, hydraulic and wind power, predicts Maïté Jauréguy-Naudin, Director of Statistics and Data at RTE, to AFP.

Coal production has reached its absolute bottom at 0,8 TWh, or less than 0,2% of the total. Fuel oil presents a similar panorama, with 1,7 TWh produced, or 0,3% of the total. These two sources are relegated to the role of “hyper peak” energy, to balance the network during episodes of high consumption.

Consumption at lowest since 2003

On the consumption side, the drop observed is historic, at -3,2% over one year, going from 460,2 TWh in 2022 to 445,4 TWh in 2023 in data corrected for climate and calendar. This drop is almost of the same magnitude as that which occurred in the year of Covid. It results both from the effects of sobriety but also from the “price effect”, due to the increase in energy prices. Electricity consumption in France has thus reached its lowest level since 2003.