Despite 95% carbon-free electricity, France is 60% dependent on fossil fuels… How can we explain it?

The steps towards carbon neutrality in 2050 – the balance point between carbon emissions and the absorption of carbon in the atmosphere by carbon sinks – are high. But France has achieved a first by producing 95% low-carbon electricity in 2024.

According to figures published Monday by RTE, the electricity transmission network manager, France has returned, for nuclear power, close to its pre-Covid levels in 2024 thanks to “rapid recovery” of the park (after the closure for maintenance of part of its power plants in 2022).

Production Associate “record” electricity from renewable sources, this makes it possible to cross for the first time the threshold of 95% of low-carbon electricity production (little or no emissions during use, production conditions and waste management implemented apart).

“Exceptional” hydraulic production

Nuclear remains the leading source of electricity production, with 67.41%. But the share of electricity produced by renewable energies (wind, solar, dams and biomass) is increasing to an unprecedented level, to 27.6%. This jump was notably made possible by hydraulic production.exceptional” last year, the highest since 2013, with record rainfall.

This threshold for renewable energies remains well below those reached by Germany and the United Kingdom, and France remains behind the European objectives, which sets renewable energies at 42.5% by 2030. But Paris is fighting with Brussels to have nuclear power admitted into a “low-carbon electricity” section, rather than separating nuclear power and renewable energies.

Transfers of use from fossil fuels to electricity have not been initiated at the level required to deeply decarbonize.

Thomas Veyrenc, RTE

This electricity production has allowed France to export to its neighbors, and a lot: 89 TWh in 2024, beating the 2022 record for net electricity exports. “France exported to all borders: Germany-Belgium (+27.2 TWh), Italy (+22.3 TWh) United Kingdom (+21 TWh), Switzerland (+16.7 TWh), to a lesser extent Spain (+2.8 TWh)“, explains Thomas Veyrenc, general director of economy, strategy and finance at RTE, in a message on LinkedIn. This allows the rest of Europe to reduce the use of coal or gas in its electricity production.

But these figures have a limit. “This record exists because electricity consumption [en France, Ndlr] remains weak“, writes the head of RTE. Which is partly good news: the French have implemented more energy-saving behavior. But above all it reflects the fact that France has not electrified its uses enough. “Transfers of use from fossils to electricity have not been initiated at the level required to deeply decarbonize“, notes Thomas Veyrenc.

Transport, buildings, factories still depend a lot on fossil fuels

Because although France produces 95% carbon-free electricity, its energy consumption is still very dependent on fossil fuels. Transport, factories, buildings… “our economy still depends 60% on fossil fuels“, recalls Thomas Veyrenc. Imported fossil fuels which, apart from their massive impact on the climate and France's greenhouse gas emissions, reinforce our dependence on gas and oil producing countries.

Thus, according to data from the Ministry of Ecological Transition, “in 2022, nearly 39% of French final energy consumption was based on oil and 18% on natural gas (excluding electricity), compared to 27% on electricity.“Transport is the primary source of consumption, ahead of buildings (heating, residential and tertiary), industry and then agriculture. In its scenarios, RTE is betting on a massive electrification of uses, which presupposes a transformation of uses and public policies to support the transition: development of a clean automobile fleet, decarbonization of industry, energy renovation.