According to data published Tuesday evening by RTE, consumption is withdrawn from 8.3 % compared to the average of previous years.
MO12345lemonde with AFP
Is this because of the increase in the cost of energy or calls for sobriety? The French indeed moderate their electricity consumption. According to data published on Tuesday, December 6 in the evening by RTE, the manager of the French electricity transport network, the downward trend in electricity consumption “is growing”, with a decline of 8.3 % per week last compared to the average of previous years (2014-2019). This decrease concerns “now all sectors”.
On the trend, “the lowering effect is amplified” compared to the previous update which had noted an electricity consumption in decline of 6.7 % over a week, Note RTE. “Over the past four weeks, electricity consumption in France at normal temperature has a structural decrease (6.6 %) compared to the minimum of previous years (2014-2019) over the same period,” said the network manager high and very high French voltage in its update stopped on Sunday.
“Over the last week, the downward trend has even increased (- 8.3 %)”, always compared to these reference years, “even if it will have to be confirmed”, underlines Rte.
First identified in the industrial sector, in the fall, due to the increase in energy prices, “the drop in consumption now appears to concern all sectors”, while, on the Past week, temperatures have descended “significantly below seasonal normal”, increasing heating needs.
“The most recent figures – collected during the cold period of the last days – show that the drop in consumption also concerns the residential (majority in volume) and tertiary sector”, a decline of 7 % compared to 2021 .
Before this updating, RTE estimated at the end of last week that the drop in consumption was not yet visible in “tertiary buildings” such as business offices and headquarters and distribution businesses.
In a context of an energy crisis, the network manager has set up this weekly monitoring of electricity consumption in mainland France.
The published data was “aligned on normal temperatures for the period” and is independent of the exceptionally soft values recorded in France in November. For the manager, these figures confirm “the real effect of sobriety actions undertaken by individuals and businesses”.
The government’s sobriety plan, presented on October 6, provides for a reduction in energy consumption of 10 % over the next two years in France compared to 2019, and 40 % by 2050.