Overview of the production, consumption, import and export of energy and electricity in France
Energy mix in FranceAn electricity pylon in Les Carroz, France.
According to the International Energy Agency, France has historically generated a very low level of carbon dioxide emissions compared to other G7 economies due to its reliance on nuclear energy.[1]Energy in France was generated from five primary sources: nuclear power, natural gas, liquid fuels, renewables and coal. In 2020, nuclear power made up the largest portion of electricity generation, at around 78%. Coal energy is declining and due to cease.[2] Renewables accounted for 19.1% of energy consumption in 2020.[2] France has the largest share of nuclear electricity in the world.[3] The country is also among the world's biggest net exporters of electricity. The country is increasingly investing in renewable energy and has set a target of 32% by 2030.[4]
In its 2021 Country report on France, the International Energy Agency warned that the country is recording delays in terms of meetings its own energy and climate goals.[5] The IEA pointed to the rising level of carbon emissions due to the reliance on fossil fuels in transport in particular and to concerns related to the aging nuclear fleet.[1]
The electricity sector in France is dominated by nuclear power, which accounted for 72.3% of total production in 2016, while renewables and fossil fuels accounted for 17.8% and 8.6%, respectively.[7] France has the largest share of nuclear electricity in the world. The country is also among the world's biggest net exporters of electricity. The French nuclear power sector is almost entirely owned by the French government and the degree of the government subsidy is difficult to ascertain because of a lack of transparency.[8]
In 2010, as part of the progressive liberalisation of the energy market under EU directives, France agreed the Accès régulé à l'électricité nucléaire historique (ARENH) regulations that allowed third party suppliers access up to about a quarter of France's pre-2011 nuclear generation capacity, at a fixed price of €42/MWh from 1 July 2011 until 31 December 2025.[9][10][11]
Nuclear
France uses nuclear to produce around 70% of its electricity needs from 56 active reactors in 2023. A 2014 plan to reduce the nuclear supply was reversed in 2019 and in 2022 plans to build six new reactors were announced.[12]
Hydro power
France has 20 GW of installed capacity and supplies around 10% of France's electricity needs.[13]
Renewable energy
Wind farm in France.
Years in which the last three renewable power levels achieved
Renewable energy includes wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy sources.
In 2009 a target for 2020 was set of 23% of all energy used would be renewable energy, this was not met as only 19.1% was achieved. France was refusing to pay the possible €500 million penalty fine.[14]
With growing installed wind and solar power capacity, on top of preexisting hydroelectric facilities, renewable energy rose to provide 26% of France's national electricity consumption in 2022.[15]
Government policy aims to increase renewable energy use; in 2015, the French parliament passed a comprehensive energy and climate law that includes a mandatory renewable energy target requiring 40% of national electricity production to come from renewable sources by 2030.[16]
Solar energy
In 2022 around 15.8 GW of Solar capacity was in operation, short of the 2023 target of 20 GW.[17]
Wind energy
An ambitious target of 50 offshore wind farms with a capacity of 40 GW by 2050 has been set by the government, the first farm near St Nazaire came online in 2022, with the fourth offshore wind farm approved in March 2023, a 1 GW farm of 47, 300m tall, turbines off Normandy called Centre Manche 1, scheduled to come online in 2031.[18]
Biomass
Biomass provides around 2% of electricity capacity.
Électricité de France
Électricité de France (EDF) is the main electricity generation and distribution company in France. It was founded on 8 April 1946 as a result of the nationalisation of a number of electricity producers, transporters and distributors by the Communist Minister of Industrial Production Marcel Paul. Until 19 November 2004 it was a government corporation, but it is now a limited-liability corporation under private law (société anonyme). The French governmentpartially floated shares of the company on the Paris Stock Exchange in November 2005,[19] although it retained almost 85% ownership at the end of 2007.[20]
EDF held a monopoly in the distribution, but not the production, of electricity in France until 1999, when the first European Union directive to harmonize regulation of electricity markets was implemented.[21]
EDF is one of the world's largest producers of electricity. In 2003, it produced 22% of the European Union's electricity, primarily from nuclear power:
A report was published in 2011 by the World Energy Council in association with Oliver Wyman, entitled Policies for the future: 2011 Assessment of country energy and climate policies, which ranks country performance according to an energy sustainability index.[22] The best performers were Switzerland, Sweden, and France.
Policy instruments
Carbon tax
Development of carbon dioxide emissions
In 2009, France detailed a carbon tax with a levy on oil, gas, and coal consumption by households and businesses that was supposed to come into effect on 1 January 2010. The tax would affect households and businesses, which would have raised the cost of a litre of unleaded fuel by about four euro cents (25 US cents per gallon). The total estimated income from the carbon tax would have been between €3 and 4.5 billion annually, with 55 percent from households and 45 percent from businesses.[23] The tax would not have applied to electricity, which in France comes mostly from nuclear power.[24]
On 30 December 2009, the bill was blocked by the French Constitutional Council, which said it included too many exceptions.[25] Among those exceptions, certain industries were excluded that would have made the taxes unequal and inefficient.[26] They included exemptions for agriculture, fishing, trucking, and farming.[23] French President Nicolas Sarkozy, although he vowed to "lead the fight to save the human race from global warming", was forced to back down after mass social protests led to strikes.[27] He wanted support from the rest of the European Union before proceeding.[28]
In 2014, a carbon tax was implemented. Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced the new Climate Energy Contribution (CEC) on 21 September 2013. The tax would apply at a rate of €7/tonne CO2 in 2014, €14.50 in 2015 and rising to €22 in 2016.[29] As of 2018, the carbon tax was at €44.60/tonne.[30] and was due to increase every year to reach €65.40/tonne in 2020 and €86.20/tonne in 2022.[31]
After weeks of protests by the "Gilets Jaunes" (yellow vests) against the rise of gas prices, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on 4 December 2018, the tax would not be increased in 2019 as planned.[32]
Petroleum products
Petroleum products accounted for 28.1% of energy use in France in 2022, having dropped from 37% in 1990 and 66% in the 1970's.[33]
^ ab"France 2021". iea. International Energy Agency. November 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
^ abBauer-Babef, Clara (2021-05-06). "France trailing behind EU renewable energy goals". www.euractiv.com. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
^"Nuclear Share of Electricity Generation in 2018". IAEA. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
^"Renewable Energy In France; What You Should Know". Hive Power. 2021-06-07. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
^Collen, Vincent (30 November 2021). "Transition énergétique : la France « en retard » sur ses objectifs". Les Echos (in French). Retrieved 24 February 2022.
^Al Gore: Our Choice, A plan to solve the climate crises, Bloomsbury 2009 page 156
^Stefan Ambec; Claude Crampes (16 January 2019). "Regulated Access to Incumbent Nuclear Electricity". Florence School of Regulation, European University Institute. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
^"EDF terminates nuclear electricity supply contracts". World Nuclear News. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
^Fabrice Fages; Myria Saarinen (2019). "France". In David L Schwartz (ed.). The Energy Regulation and Markets Review. Law Business Research. ISBN 978-1-83862-032-5. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
^"Hydroelectric energy". Retrieved 11 August 2023.
^ ab"France refuses to pay up for failing to meet renewable energy targets". 22 November 2023.
^"Low-carbon industries key to the renaissance of French energy sovereignty". Rystad Energy. 2023-11-14. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
^Tara Patel (2015-07-22). "France to Adopt Law to Cut Nuclear Dependency, Carbon Emissions". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
^"Solar power in France: regulatory changes and market opportunities". 23 April 2023.
^"France makes progress on offshore wind, bottlenecks remain for onshore wind. Now needs to speed up both". 18 April 2023.
^Bennhold, Katrin (21 November 2005). "EDF shares fail to light up market". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
^"Shareholding policy". Électricité de France. 31 December 2007. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
^Directive 96/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 1996 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity (L27, 30.01.1997, p. 20)
^"World Energy Council". Archived from the original on 2011-11-20. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
^ abSaltmarsh, Matthew (23 March 2010). "France Abandons Plan for Carbon Tax". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
^Puljak, Nadeje (10 September 2009). "Sarkozy unveils new French carbon tax". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
^Kanter, James (30 December 2009). "Council in France Blocks a Carbon Tax as Weak on Polluters". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
^Décision n° 2009-599 DC du 29 décembre 2009 Archived 29 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine French Constitutional Council (in French)
^Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose (23 March 2010). "France Ditches Carbon Tax as Social Protests Mount". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
^Chrisafis, Angelique (10 September 2009). "Sarkozy Launches Carbon Tax to Help 'Save the Human Race'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
^Taxe Carbone: comment ça va marcher Archived 4 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine, The Tribune, 23 September 2013.
^"State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2018" (PDF). World Bank. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 August 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
^Fiscalité des énergies Archived 22 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine Ministère de la transition écologique et solidaire, 24 January 2018.
^Macron scraps fuel tax rise in face of gilets Jaunes protests Archived 30 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian 5 December 20183.
^"Energy resources and market structure". Retrieved 11 August 2023.
