2024: Record Electricity Production, Lower Carbon Than Ever!
France recorded an exceptional year for electricity production in 2024, reaching 536.5 TWh, its highest level since 2019. Driven by nuclear, hydropower, and renewable energy sources, the French electricity mix has now reached an unprecedented low-carbon level of 95%.
In 2024, France returned to record levels of electricity production, reaching 536.5 TWh, a figure unseen since 2019. This performance is crucial at a time when electrification is a key driver in achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Even more significantly, “low-carbon electricity production has, for the first time, reached the threshold of 95% of total electricity produced in France,” stated RTE in a press release issued on 20 January 2025.
Three key factors explain this exceptional performance: the recovery of nuclear power generation, which reached 361.7 TWh, nearing its historical maximum after a sharp decline in 2022 due to issues across the reactor fleet; outstanding hydropower production, reaching 74.7 TWh, the highest level since 2013; and the growth of wind and solar energy, which together generated 70 TWh in 2024, an increase of more than 50% compared to 2019.
Greener and More Export-Oriented
At the same time, fossil fuel generation has fallen to a historic low of just 19.9 TWh, confirming France’s transition towards clean electricity. For the first time, solar power generation (23.3 TWh) surpassed the combined output of gas, coal, and oil-fired power plants. The carbon intensity of French electricity has dropped to just 21.3 gCO₂eq/kWh, a nearly one-third reduction compared to 2023.
Records continue to accumulate for the French electricity system and its nuclear fleet. France also set a new electricity export record in 2024, with a net export balance of 89 TWh, surpassing the previous record of 77 TWh set in 2002. The main beneficiaries of these exports were Germany, Belgium, Italy, and the United Kingdom, reinforcing France’s pivotal role in supplying low-carbon electricity to Europe. ■