A wind farm at Conlie, near Le Mans.
-
Jean-Francois MONIER / AFP
Renewable energies continue to grow in France.
Thanks to hydraulic parks and wind turbines, this park supplied more than a quarter of the electricity consumed in France in 2020, according to a report published on Tuesday, even if it remains far behind the share of nuclear.
"Renewable energies contributed 26.9% to the coverage of electricity consumption in mainland France during the year 2020", indicates the Syndicate of Renewable Energies (SER) in a report published with other partners, including the electricity transmission (RTE) and distribution (Enedis) networks.
The impact of the health crisis
This is an increase of nearly four points compared to the figures for 2019 (23.1%), which “is explained by a historic renewable production of 120.7 TWh (increase of 10.4% compared to 2019) and by a drop in consumption due to the health situation ”.
In detail, production was driven by wind (+ 17.3%) and hydro (+ 9.3%).
The total capacity of the renewable park installed also continued to increase last year, reaching 55,906 MW at the end of 2020, an increase of 2,039 MW.
This growth was driven by wind power (+1.105 MW) and solar (+820 MW).
However, it is still the hydroelectric park that dominates the French landscape even if its power has remained almost stable.
Excluding renewables, France still depends heavily on nuclear power for the production of its electricity, with a share of over 70% in recent years.
Planet
Electricity: That France turns mainly to renewables in 2050 is possible, "but under conditions"
Planet
Renewable energies: The French remain three quarters in favor of wind power, according to a survey
Planet
Wind turbine
Nuclear
renewable energy
electricity