The cold snap in France last week did not slow down the decline in electricity consumption observed for several weeks.
On the contrary, "
the downward effect is growing
", according to the weekly summary of the RTE network manager published on Wednesday.
The drop reached 9.7% - corrected for weather and calendar effects - compared to the average for previous years excluding the health crisis (2014-2019).
This is a more marked dynamic than the decrease of 8.3% observed the previous week, and 6.7% and 5.8% the weeks before.
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And yet, "
over the past week, temperatures were significantly below normal for the season, with a negative difference reaching 6.2°C on Sunday December 11
", notes RTE, which notes "
a change in trend compared to to the previous weeks, during which temperatures had been above normal for more than a month
.
What reduce electricity needs for heating in the tertiary and residential sectors.
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For the manager, the accentuation of the drop in electricity consumption confirms "
including during the cold period, the trend observed for several weeks, and the real effect of the sobriety actions taken by individuals and companies
" .
Efforts demanded by the government, which, as part of its sobriety plan, aims to reduce energy consumption by 10% by 2024, compared to 2019. Over the last four weeks, the reduction in consumption in France rose to 9%, according to RTE.
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Last week's weekly report also confirms that the drop in consumption now affects all sectors.
After a decline was noted in industry in the autumn, “
the most recent figures – collected during the cold period of the first two weeks of December – show that the drop in consumption also concerns the residential sector (mainly in volume) and tertiary
", comments RTE.
Thus, last week, “
aggregated consumption of the residential and tertiary sectors (after adjusting for weather effects) was thus around 8.5% lower than the level of 2021
”, notes the manager.
Faced with soaring energy prices, the industry has also considerably reduced its consumption: over the last thirty days, withdrawals have reached 3,758 GWh, according to RTE, i.e. 15% less than over the same period between 2019 and 2021. The “electro intensives” sacrifice part of their activity.
