According to preliminary data unveiled by the French electricity transmission network operator RTE, electricity consumption dropped by 6% in 2014 compared to 2013, owing to mild temperature (average temperatures above reference temperatures by 0.5°C and rarely below 5°C). Therefore, peak demand reached 82.5 GW in December 2014, the lowest since 2004 and much below the 2012 (102 GW) and 2013 (92.6 GW) levels.
Thermal power generation fell by 40% (-58% for coal, -11% for fuel and -28% for gas), contributing to a 41% decrease in CO2 emissions from the generation sector (down to 19 MtCO2eq). More than 1 GW (1,300 MW) of thermal power plants were withdrawn in 2014, while renewables continued to gain momentum: nearly 1.9 GW of wind and solar PV capacities were installed during the year, reaching an installed capacity of 9,100 MW of wind and 5,300 MW of solar PV. Wind power generation rose by 6.7% in 2014, while solar PV generation rose by more than 27%. In 2014, net exports rose to 65 TWh; France remained a net importer to Germany (5.9 TWh in 2014, compared to 10 TWh in 2013), while net exports to Belgium rose to 16.5 TWh as a consequence of nuclear power plant unavailability in Belgium. Net exports to other countries (Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom) rose over the year.
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