Finance
French power supply outpacing demand as electrification lags, grid operator says
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
France faces electricity overcapacity with low demand and high supply. RTE urges Europe-wide electrification to address this imbalance.
PARIS, Dec 9 (Reuters) - France has entered a period of electricity overcapacity due to flagging industrial use and growing renewable and nuclear output, grid operator RTE said on Tuesday, calling for Europe-level action to boost electrification.
Power prices in France have fallen to their lowest since mid 2018 after rocketing during the 2022 energy crisis, which caused traditional industry to shutter factories and cut power consumption.
RTE said electricity demand growth had followed the slower scenario laid out in its 2023 analysis as weaker economic expansion has led to less power demand compared to the pre-COVID average and a slow rollout of electrification projects.
To overcome this overcapacity, decarbonisation and electrification projects like the electric vehicle rollout and hydrogen production need to be implemented more quickly, which will require action on the European level, RTE said in a report.
The supply-demand imbalance led to record power exports in 2024, and France is on track to break that record in 2025 after reaching 82 terawatt hours of exports by November, just 7 TWh short of last year's total with a month to go, RTE said.
However export capacity is limited by infrastructure constraints, and RTE said overcapacity is likely to require more modulation capacity - the ability to reduce power supply at periods of low demand - at nuclear and renewable plants.
Lowering power supply over increased periods means that power producers like nuclear operator EDF would see a hit to their profits as they curtail production, and could also lead to extended maintenance delays during less profitable months.
RTE currently has 30 gigawatt hours of grid access rights signed and contracted for heavy industry, including hydrogen, mobility and data centres, which can help mitigate some of the oversupply, the report said.
Compared to other countries, France could see greater demand growth by the end of the decade and higher electricity grid utilisation rates, RTE said.
(Reporting by Forrest Crellin; Editing by Jan Harvey)
Electricity overcapacity occurs when the supply of electricity exceeds the demand for it, leading to potential waste of resources and lower prices for consumers.
Renewable energy sources are energy sources that are naturally replenished, such as solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal energy, which are considered more sustainable than fossil fuels.
Electrification refers to the process of converting to electric power, often involving the installation of electric infrastructure to replace fossil fuels in various applications.
Decarbonisation is the process of reducing carbon dioxide emissions associated with energy production and consumption, often through the use of renewable energy sources.
Power modulation capacity is the ability of power generation facilities to adjust their output in response to fluctuations in electricity demand, helping to maintain grid stability.
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