France has unveiled its third multiyear energy plan, setting out a bold vision to move the country away from fossil fuels and expand electricity production over the next decade.
Prince Minister Sébastien Lecornu presented the Programmation Pluriannuelle de l’Énergie (PPE 3) on 12th February in the Jura region, framing it as a matter of national survival. “For the first time, our climate interests align with our geopolitical interests,” he said, “and with those of consumers and their electricity bills.”
Breaking free from fossil fuels
France currently spends around €60 billion a year importing oil and gas. The plan aims to flip the energy mix: where fossil fuels account for 60 per cent of final consumption today, the goal is for 60 per cent to come from low-carbon sources by 2030, through a broad shift to electricity across homes, factories and data centres.
However, one obstacle, Christian Buchel of the Union Française de l’Électricité warned about, is that electricity is currently taxed two to three times more heavily than imported fossil fuels, making the switch harder for households and businesses.
Nuclear power also sits at the heart of the plan. France’s existing fleet produces more electricity than any other country in Europe, but many reactors are ageing, and output dropped under to 300 TWh in 2002 following a series of technical problems. It has since recovered to around 360 TWh, and the plan sets a target of 380-420 TWh by 2035.
To secure the long-term future of nuclear power, the government is committing to six brand new reactors, with an option for eight more. The programme is also expected to be a major engine of job creation, with the nuclear supply chain alone forecast to hire 100,000 people over the next decade.
Renewables: ending the family feud
Offshore wind is to grow from barely 1GW today to 15GW by 2035, with solar reaching 55-80 GW over the same period. Lecornu highlighted the need to stop treating nuclear and renewables as rivals. “The real divide is not between nuclear and renewables. It’s between what is low-carbon and what is fossil fuel.”
Meanwhile, the event was held at a hydroelectric dam, a deliberate nod to a separate but related piece of legislation: the Bolo-Battistel law, which aims to unlock over €5 billion in long-stalled hydropower investment.
The law, which had passed the National Assembly but still needed Senate approval, would add 2.5 GW of additional capacity from existing sites. Much of that investment would go into STEP facilities – pumped-storage stations that work like giant batteries, pumping water uphill when electricity is abundant and releasing it to generate power when demand peaks. During those peak periods, the new capacity would be enough to supply 750,000 homes
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Main photo credit: Chris LeBoutillier