After two years of crisis, France has achieved a record level of electricity production in the first half of 2024, largely due to its hydroelectric dams, resulting in unprecedented export levels, while domestic consumption remained low, according to the French electricity grid operator.
Record Electricity Production
Following the crises of 2020 and 2022, French electricity production reached 272 terawatt-hours (TWh) by mid-year, the highest since 2019. This was largely attributed to “exceptionally high” hydraulic activity, highlighted in RTE’s semi-annual electricity report, published on Tuesday.
French dams produced 41 TWh in the first six months of the year, an increase of 37% in volume compared to 2023 and 13% above the 2000-2020 average, mainly due to winter and spring rains that filled the reservoirs.
Nuclear and Renewable Energy
Nuclear production, which had been impacted in recent years by corrosion issues in some reactors, “continues to recover,” reaching 177 TWh, up 12% from the previous year but still 14% below the 2000-2020 average.
Renewable energy production (wind and solar) is “gradually increasing,” with wind generating 25.5 TWh and solar producing 11.4 TWh (up 3% and 5%, respectively).
Conversely, fossil thermal production, primarily from gas, has “never been this low since the 1950s,” at 11.5 TWh, a reduction of 54% compared to 2000-2020. Notably, coal plants have operated for only about one hundred hours since the beginning of the year.
High Rate of Decarbonization
“In the first half of the year, 96% of French electricity production was decarbonized,” said Thomas Veyrenc, Director-General in charge of economy and strategy at RTE, describing it as an “exceptional performance.”
Consumption remains below pre-2022 energy crisis levels, reflecting a “well-established trend” that began in the late 2010s with advances in energy efficiency, further accentuated by the crises of 2020 (Covid) and 2022 (price increases and energy sobriety).
Future Trends and Electrification
The drive to electrify usage (such as cars) to replace climate-warming fossil fuels has not yet reversed this trend, with the scale and timeline of this shift still “uncertain.”
As a result, there is a strong security of supply (“no risk of summer blackouts”) and very low greenhouse gas emissions from the French electrical system.
Record Export Levels
Consequently, France set a new record for net electricity exports to neighboring countries in the first half of the year, reaching 42 TWh net (compared to 13 TWh in the same period last year).
If this trend continues into the second half of the year, the annual net export record (77 TWh set in 2002) will be broken, according to RTE.
“These exports contribute very positively to the trade balance,” Veyrenc emphasized. They also “counter the argument that nuclear and renewable sectors are in competition. In the future, as electricity consumption increases, we will be glad to have this low-carbon system.”
In 2022, due to the energy crisis and the unavailability of part of the nuclear fleet because of corrosion issues, France became a net importer for the first time since 1980. However, 2023 marked a return to a net export balance, thanks to the recovery in production.
In March and April, the net export balance to Germany and Belgium “exceeded the maximum levels observed over the past ten years,” and remained “close to average values on the Italian and Swiss borders,” according to the report.
With Spain, France was a net importer from January to April “because wholesale market prices were lower in Spain than in France.” The balance shifted in May and June “when French prices averaged below Spanish prices.”