Primary energy consumption in France 2019-2023, by fuel

Primary energy consumption in France increased in 2023 when compared to the previous year. That year, the most used energy source in the European country was nuclear power, followed by oil. These figures amounted to 3.03 and 2.76 exajoules, respectively. By comparison, primary energy consumption from renewable sources reached some 0.95 exajoules that year. 

Nuclear energy in France

Despite being the European leader in nuclear energy, France is reducing its nuclear power generation, which in 2022 was below 65 percent of the country's electricity generation. In the last couple of years, the French nuclear fleet faced some technical problems that forced a temporary shutdown of several nuclear units. In 2022, the monthly nuclear production touched unprecedented lows.

Nuclear energy worldwide

While the global trend in 2022 was to reduce the consumption of nuclear energy and Germany phased-out nuclear power at the beginning of the following year, countries such as China and the United States do not seem to follow the same trend. Consumption of nuclear energy in the U.S., for instance, has only marginally changed. Although China’s nuclear energy consumption is lower than in the United States, it has increased over the years.