PARIS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - France will set out an ambitious energy plan this week which Prime Minister Sebastian Lecornu said will include doubling the country's energy consumption from electricity to
France Unveils Ambitious Plan to Double Electricity Consumption
Overview of France's Electrification Drive
PARIS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - France will set out an ambitious energy plan this week which Prime Minister Sebastian Lecornu said will include doubling the country's energy consumption from electricity to 60% by 2030.
Hitting this target, which Lecornu announced on Saturday, will require a major shift in the French power mix as electricity now only represents only around 30% of total energy consumption and is largely generated by nuclear and renewables.
French heavy industry and transportation still rely mostly on fossil fuels and their sluggish demand for electricity has meant little change in the take-up of cleaner energy sources.
Impact on Energy Sector
WHY IT MATTERS
Higher electricity demand would help state-owned utility EDF.
It would also support the growth of solar power and the development of new users of electricity such as electric vehicles, hydrogen electrolysers and heat pumps.
Challenges Ahead
However, it would also necessitate costly infrastructure projects and a major upgrade of France's grid, and put demand growth at a much faster pace than previously forecast.
The government will be expected to explain how it can overcome some of these obstacles when it announces the details.
BY THE NUMBERS
Future Projections
French electricity demand grew 5% per year between 1960 and 2000, before declining to about a 1% per year growth rate to 2010 and has been largely flat since, data from consultancy Kpler showed.
Lecornu's plan would require French electricity demand to grow by 20% per year over four years with a much weaker economy, said Kpler's head power analyst Hamza Aourach.
Grid operator RTE has forecast that demand for energy from electricity will grow to between 40% and 45% by 2035.
KEY QUOTES
"Power demand is not meeting expectations," French minister of energy Roland Lescure said last week.
"The goal is extremely ambitious, if not impossible," Kpler's Aourach said.
(Reporting by Forrest Crellin and America Hernandez; Editing by Alexander Smith)
