The downward trend in electricity consumption in France “grows”with a decline of 8.3% last week compared to the average for previous years (2014-2019), a decrease that concerns “now all sectors”according to data published Tuesday evening, December 6 by RTE, the manager of the French electricity transmission network.
On trend, “the bearish effect is growing” compared to the previous update which had noted a drop in electricity consumption of 6.7% over one week, notes RTE.
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“Over the last 4 weeks, electricity consumption in France at normal temperature has shown a structural decrease (6.6%) compared to the minimum of previous years (2014-2019) over the same period”indicates the manager of the French high and very high voltage network in its update stopped on Sunday.
“Over the last week, the downtrend has even intensified (-8.3%)”still in relation to these reference years, “although this will have to be confirmed”underlines RTE.
In the tertiary and residential sectors
First identified in the industrial sector, as of the fall, due to the rise in energy prices, “The fall in consumption now appears to concern all sectors”and this while over the past week, the temperatures have dropped “significantly below normal for the season”increasing heating requirements.
“The most recent figures – collected during the cold period of the last few days – show that the drop in consumption also concerns the residential sector (majority in volume) and tertiary”a decline of 7% compared to 2021, according to RTE.
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Before this update, RTE estimated at the end of last week that the drop in consumption was not yet visible in the “tertiary buildings” such as corporate offices and headquarters and retail outlets.
In a context of energy crisis, the network operator has set up this weekly monitoring of electricity consumption in mainland France.
“Real effect of sobriety actions”
The published data has been “in line with normal temperatures for the period” and are independent of the exceptionally mild values recorded in France in November.
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For the manager, these figures confirm “the real effect of sobriety actions undertaken by individuals and companies”.
The government’s sobriety plan, presented on October 6, provides for a 10% reduction in energy consumption over the next two years in France compared to 2019, and 40% by 2050.
