Renewables reached 17.2% of final energy consumption in France in 2019

According to the French General Commission for Sustainable Development, the share of renewables in the gross final energy consumption reached 17.2% in 2019, according to provisional estimates. This share has increased by 8 percentage points since 2005, thanks to the surge in the gross final consumption of renewables (+ 129 TWh since 2005, i.e. an increase of 72%), and the drop in gross final energy consumption (- 144 TWh since 2005, i.e. a decrease of 7%). Over the 2005-2019 period, the share of renewables increased steadily, in the transport sector (+7.3 points to 9.3%), in the power sector (+8.5 points, to 22.3%) and in heating (+11.1 points, to 22.7%). Despite this progression, the share of renewables remains below the trajectory to reach France’s 2020 objective, determined by the 2020 European directive, which is set at 23% of renewables by 2020, with at least 10% for the transport sector. By 2030, France aims to reach 33% of renewables in its final energy consumption, including 38% in heating and cooling and 15% in transports.

In April 2020, the French Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition (MEIT) issued two decrees implementing the Multi-annual Energy Plan to 2028 (Programmation pluriannuelle de l’énergie, PPE) and the National Low Carbon Strategy, which were first released in January 2019. The French Strategy for Energy and Climate aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. It targets a 16.5% cut in final energy consumption by 2028 (compared to 2012), a 40% reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels by 2030 – instead of the 30% target set in the Energy Transition Act (Loi de transition énergétique, 2015) – and the closure of the last coal-fired power plant by 2022. Furthermore, the share of nuclear in the power mix will be brought to under 50% by 2035, instead of 2025; 14 of the existing 58 nuclear reactors will be shut down by 2035. The renewable power generation capacity should be doubled by 2028 compared to 2017 to help raise the share of renewables in the final energy consumption to 33% by 2030.