Cibles pour le prochain plan énergétique pluriannuel dévoilées
Consultation is launched
The French Energy-Climate Strategy aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. It is based on four pillars: energy sobriety, energy efficiency, the revival of nuclear power and the acceleration of renewable energies.
This consultation is part of a process that will culminate over the coming months in a decree setting out the Pluriannual Energy Program (PPE), the main strategic document for steering France’s energy transition.
109 billion euros
La facture d’importation de combustibles fossiles passera de 48 milliards d’euros en 2021 à 2022
Source: SDES, Energy balance sheet
The final challenge concerns the fight against climate change. The government wants to accelerate the decarbonization of all sectors: transport, industry, construction, agriculture, and energy.
Being the first major industrial country to move away from fossil fuels implies profound changes, as illustrated by the graph below.
Source: RTE, SDES, DGEC
Energy consumption is expected to decrease by up to 50% by 2050. The electrification of transport and heating systems in particular, thanks to improved efficiency, will play a significant role. Energy sobriety will need to complement this effort, with its expected contribution ranging between 15% and 20%.
51%
The share of fossil fuels in the final energy consumption of industry in 2021
Source: SDES, Energy balance sheet
The final hurdle in reshaping the energy mix lies in scaling up the production of decarbonized energy: nuclear power, renewable electricity, renewable heating and cooling, biogas, biofuels, etc. It is projected that electricity production will need to increase by 10% by 2030 and 55% by 2050.
This transition towards 2050 necessitates setting intermediate goals to chart a course. This is where the Multiannual Energy Programme comes in, outlining five objectives detailed in the consultation document.
50 TWh
More end-energy consumption due to reindustrialization in 2030
Source: French Ministry of Energy Transition
Objective 2: adapt networks, especially to meet industrial requirements
The Multi-Year Energy Plan calls for enhanced planning of connections in the most dynamic industrial zones and port areas. It also aims to bolster the national industrial sector for electrical materials and equipment related to networks.
The situation concerning natural gas networks is quite different. Natural gas consumption is expected to decrease significantly, aligning with the objective of carbon neutrality by 2050. The challenge for gas network operators is to adjust their infrastructures to the decline in consumption while incorporating biomethane and hydrogen. The costs of adapting networks for green gas are projected to range between 6 and 9.7 billion euros by 2050.
Objective 3: guarantee security of supply
In the case of electricity, security of supply must be ensured not only by ramping up production, but also by developing flexibility to balance supply and demand during periods of peak consumption. Among the measures envisaged on the electricity supply side by the next multi-annual energy program are the development of interconnections, support for the deployment of batteries and the launch of calls for tenders for pumped-storage energy transfer stations (STEP). Demand-side measures are also planned. In particular, the government intends to introduce incentives or regulatory constraints for the control of certain equipment (charging stations and heating systems, for example). Electricity prices should also provide consumers with greater incentives to modulate their consumption during peak periods. Finally, new incentive mechanisms should be introduced to take full advantage of the potential of both diffuse and industrial load shedding.
Objective 4: preserve purchasing power and competitiveness
Finally, the 5th objective is the development of decarbonized energy production, a major component of the next PPE. This will be the subject of our next article.