Electricity and gas consumption has decreased by 9% and 10.5%, respectively compared to last month, according to the latest data from electricity and gas network operators, with the government praising the citizens collective action.
France is nearing the energy reduction goal of 10% Prime Minister Elisabeth set in August, as household and industry consumption of electricity decreased 9% over the last month and 9.7% over the last week, electricity operator RTE reported on Wednesday,
“It is very impressive and far from a given”, RTE Executive Director Thomas Veyrenc told a Senate hearing on Wednesday. The results are so promising that the “worst-case scenarios” have been shelved for the time being.
Energy Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher also praised people’s “collective efforts” to keep electricity consumption to a minimum. A 9% drop is the “equivalent of seven nuclear plants”, she told the radio station France Bleu.
Gas consumption in the country also saw a significant drop, with consumption from 1 August to 11 November dropping 10.5% compared to the same period in 2018, reported the country’s natural gas transmission system operator GRTgaz. The drop can be explained by the 22.1% and 14.1% drop in industry and household consumption, respectively.
At the same time, however, demand for gas-generated electricity has gone up 43.5%.
“Collective awareness is leading gas users to reduce their non-essential consumption (chosen sobriety)”, while the significant rise in energy costs also led companies to review their consumption plans altogether, according to GRTgaz.
(Theo Bourgery-Gonse, Paul Messad | EURACTIV.fr)
Source: euractiv.com
