In France, a third of the electricity consumed was from renewable sources in 2024

A third of the electricity consumed in France in 2024 will be from renewable sources, according to the Panorama of Renewable Electricity published on Monday, June 2. This proportion was achieved thanks to solar power, but also thanks to the hydroelectric sector, which remains the leading source of renewable electricity.

Renewable electricity production itself, which also includes exports, "reached a new record" last year, at 150 terawatt-hours (TWh). This is an increase of 9.8% compared to 2023, indicates the report co-published by the Syndicat des énergies renouvelables (SER), the ORE Agency (Energy Network Operator) and the electricity distribution network operators Enedis and RTE. For comparison, nuclear production in France stood at 361.7 TWh in 2024 according to EDF.

"This strong increase is largely driven by the constant increase in the production of renewable electricity from solar energy (+10%) and a strong increase in hydraulic production (+27%)" , indicates the document which takes stock of the main sectors of electricity production from renewable sources.

In terms of installed capacity (maximum production potential), the hydroelectric sector is the second largest electricity production sector in France with 25.7 gigawatts (GW), just behind nuclear (61.4 GW). Hydroelectric power covered 15.8% of the electricity consumed in France in 2024, ahead of onshore wind (9.6%) and solar (5.7%), while offshore wind, whose farms are currently being deployed, covered 0.9% of needs.

For the first time last year, the capacity of the solar farm (24.3 GW) exceeded that of the onshore wind farm (22.8 GW). Offshore wind increased its capacity by 665 megawatts (MW) to 1.5 GW. Meanwhile, the capacity of electricity production from bioenergy (wood energy, biogas, paper waste, etc.) reached nearly 2.3 GW and represented 1.9% of electricity consumed.

In terms of renewable energy production, hydropower takes first place with 69.8 TWh of electricity produced in 2024 (+27.3%), ahead of onshore wind (42.8 TWh, –12.6%) and solar (24.8 TWh, +10.3%). Biomass (8.5 TWh, +1.5%) and offshore wind (4 TWh, +111.2%) bring up the rear.

• Electricity
• Electricity of France (EDF)
• Renewable energy