Electricity Grid Review 2025: France

January 1 - December 31, 2024 vs 2025

Data coverage: 366 days (2024), 365 days (2025)

1. Electricity Price (Day-Ahead, EUR/MWh)

Mean 2024

€58.6

Mean 2025

€61.5

+€2.9

Monthly Average Day-Ahead Price

EUR/MWh

20242025

Price-Carbon Correlation

Correlation coefficient: -0.74 (2024), -0.61 (2025). Strong negative correlation - higher renewable generation = lower prices, reflecting the merit order effect.

1.1 Daily Price Extremes

Based on daily average prices

Metric	2024	2025
Highest Daily Avg	€179.3 (Dec 13, 2024)	€201.8 (Jan 20, 2025)
Lowest Daily Avg	€-7.5 (Jul 06, 2024)	€-5.6 (May 11, 2025)
Negative Price Days	4	2
Negative Price Hours	352	513

1.2 Hourly Price Extremes

Metric	2024	2025
Highest Price	€284.2 (Dec 13, 2024 16:00)	€473.3 (Jan 20, 2025 17:00)
Lowest Price	€-87.3 (May 12, 2024 12:00)	€-118.0 (May 1, 2025 12:00)

1.3 Days by Price Range

Based on daily average prices

Range (€/MWh)	2024	2025	Δ
€0-50	148	156	+8
€51-100	172	155	-17
€101-150	43	48	+5
€151-200	3	5	+2
€201+	0	1	+1

1.4 Hours by Price Range

Based on hourly prices

Range (€/MWh)	2024	2025	Δ
Negative	352	513	+161
€0-50	3,199	3,170	-29
€51-100	3,663	3,061	-602
€101-150	1,278	1,519	+241
€151-200	70	247	+177
€201+	25	31	+6

1.5 Average Price by Hour of Day

2025 Average Price by Hour

€/MWh

1.6 Price Distribution (Hourly)

Price Distribution

Number of hours at each level

20242025

Negative Price Events

513 hours with negative prices across 97 days. Most negative: €-118.0/MWh.

Intraday Price Volatility

Average daily price swing: €90/MWh. Maximum single-day swing was €359/MWh on 2025-01-20 (low: €114, high: €473).

Notable monthly evolutions

⚠️ Feb 2025: Electricity prices were 109% higher than Feb 2024

Change: +109% vs 2024

1.7 Multi-Level Price Heatmap

Price Heatmap

€/MWh

61.1 €/MWh yearly avg

hourly range: -118-473

Yearly

Monthly

Daily

Hourly

600

175

-250

2. Load

Load 2024

431.7 TWh

Load 2025

438.5 TWh

+1.6%

Production 2024

518.7 TWh

Production 2025

528.2 TWh

+1.8%

2.1 Monthly Load

Monthly Consumption vs Production

TWh per month

Consumption 2024Consumption 2025Production 2024Production 2025

2.2 Average Load by Hour of Day

55.027.50

00:0006:0012:0018:0023:00

Load Pattern

Peak demand at 10:00 (55.0 GW). Minimum at 02:00 (42.3 GW).

2.3 Weekday vs Weekend

Weekday Average

51.5 GW

Weekend Average

46.4 GW

2.4 Net Load Pattern (Duck Curve)

Net Load Pattern (excl. Solar & Wind)

GW

Solar Integration Challenge

Evening ramp of 10.6 GW from belly (02:00) to evening peak (18:00). This requires flexible dispatchable generation or storage to meet rapidly increasing demand as solar output decreases.

2.5 Seasonal Net Load Patterns

The duck curve shape varies significantly by season due to changes in solar intensity and heating/cooling demand patterns.

Winter (Dec-Feb)

Winter (Dec-Feb) Net Load Pattern

GW

Belly: 48.1 GW @ 03:00 | Peak: 61.5 GW @ 18:00 | Ramp: 13.4 GW

Spring (Mar-May)

Spring (Mar-May) Net Load Pattern

GW

Belly: 33.9 GW @ 14:00 | Peak: 44.3 GW @ 18:00 | Ramp: 10.5 GW

Summer (Jun-Aug)

Summer (Jun-Aug) Net Load Pattern

GW

Belly: 32.3 GW @ 13:00 | Peak: 41.8 GW @ 20:00 | Ramp: 9.5 GW

Fall (Sep-Nov)

Fall (Sep-Nov) Net Load Pattern

GW

Belly: 35.3 GW @ 02:00 | Peak: 47.2 GW @ 17:00 | Ramp: 11.9 GW

Seasonal Comparison

Winter shows a more pronounced duck curve with an evening ramp of 13.4 GW, 3.9 GW larger than summer (9.5 GW). This may reflect higher evening demand from heating and lighting.

2.6 Peak & Minimum Demand Records (2025)

Rank	Highest Load	Date	Lowest Load	Date
1	87.0 GW	2025-01-14 07:00	29.2 GW	2025-05-04 03:00
2	86.8 GW	2025-01-14 08:00	29.3 GW	2025-05-04 02:00
3	84.9 GW	2025-01-14 09:00	29.8 GW	2025-05-04 04:00

3. Production-Based vs Flow-Traced Carbon Intensity (gCO₂eq/kWh)

Key Insight

Production-based carbon intensity is 2.4g lower than flow-traced carbon intensity in 2024 (2.4g in 2025). This means France's domestic production is slightly cleaner than consumed electricity.

Production-Based 2024

31.1 g

Production-Based 2025

29.6 g

-1.5

Flow-Traced 2024

33.5 g

Flow-Traced 2025

32.0 g

-1.5

3.1 Monthly Production Mix

Production Mix by Month

GWh per month by source

2024: left bars2025: right bars

Nuclear

Hydro

Wind

Solar

Biomass

Gas

Coal

Oil

Hydro Storage

Battery

3.2 Production Mix (Domestic Generation)

2024 Production

69%

12%

9%

4%

2025 Production

70%

10%

9%

6%

3.3 Flow-Traced Power Mix

2024 Flow-Traced

67%

12%

9%

5%

2025 Flow-Traced

68%

10%

9%

6%

Nuclear

Hydro

Wind

Solar

Biomass

Gas

Coal

Oil

Hydro Storage

Battery

3.5 Power Mix Comparison

Production vs Flow-Traced consumption by source

Source	Prod 2024	Flow-traced 2024	Prod 2025	Flow-traced 2025
Nuclear	69.0%	67.4%	70.1% (+1.1pp)	68.4% (+1.0pp)
Hydro	12.1%	12.1%	9.7% (-2.4pp)	9.8% (-2.3pp)
Wind	8.8%	9.1%	9.2% (+0.4pp)	9.3% (+0.2pp)
Solar	4.5%	4.7%	5.7% (+1.2pp)	6.0% (+1.3pp)
Gas	3.3%	3.6%	3.1% (-0.2pp)	3.4% (-0.2pp)
Biomass	1.4%	1.4%	1.6% (+0.2pp)	1.6% (+0.2pp)
Hydro Storage	0.6%	1.3%	0.4% (-0.2pp)	1.3% (+0.0pp)
Oil	0.3%	0.3%	0.2% (-0.1pp)	0.2% (-0.1pp)
Coal	0.1%	0.2%	0.1% (+0.0pp)	0.1% (-0.1pp)

3.6 Key Trend

Nuclear Dominance (Flow-Traced)

France's electricity consumption is dominated by ~68.4% nuclear. Solar saw the biggest growth from 4.7% to 6.0%.

4. Cross-Border Electricity Flows

Total Exports 2025

99.63 TWh

+1.6%

Total Imports 2025

10.03 TWh

-3.0%

Net Position 2025

+89.59 TWh

France: Net Electricity Exporter

France exported a net 89.59 TWh in 2025.

4.1 2025 Gross Exports (France → Neighbor)

Total electricity exported to each country — with average carbon intensity

48.43 TWh

21.63 TWh

17.72 TWh

15.55 TWh

10.45 TWh

5.84 TWh

2.35 TWh

4.2 2025 Gross Imports (Neighbor → France)

Total electricity imported from each country — with average carbon intensity

6.81 TWh

1.47 TWh

0.67 TWh

0.62 TWh

0.53 TWh

0.39 TWh

4.3 Net Position by Neighbor (2025)

Neighbor	Net (TWh)	Direction
IT	+47.89	Net Exporter
GB	+21.01	Net Exporter
DE	+17.06	Net Exporter
CH	+15.15	Net Exporter
BE	+8.98	Net Exporter
LU	+2.35	Net Exporter
ES	-0.97	Net Importer

Positive = France is net exporter to that neighbor. Negative = France is net importer from that neighbor.

4.4 Flow Pattern by Hour of Day

Cross-Border Flow Pattern by Hour

MW (positive = export, negative = import)

Net ExportNet Import

Cross-Border Flow Timing

Peak exports at 20:00 (11.8 GW avg).

5. Carbon Intensity (gCO₂eq/kWh)

Mean 2024

33.5 g

Mean 2025

32.0 g

-1.5

Monthly Average Carbon Intensity

gCO₂eq/kWh (flow-traced)

20242025

5.1 Daily Records

Metric	2024	2025
Lowest Carbon Intensity	15.3 g (Jun 18, 2024)	15.8 g (Sep 24, 2025)
Lowest Fossil %	0.7% (Jun 18, 2024)	0.8% (Sep 24, 2025)
Highest Carbon Intensity	79.2 g (Jan 13, 2024)	72.2 g (Jan 14, 2025)
Highest Fossil %	12.9% (Jan 10, 2024)	11.2% (Nov 21, 2025)

5.2 Hourly Records

Metric	2024	2025
Lowest Carbon Intensity	12.8 g (Jun 19, 2024 03:00)	13.6 g (Sep 24, 2025 23:00)
Highest Carbon Intensity	93.6 g (Mar 5, 2024 20:00)	87.4 g (Jan 14, 2025 08:00)

5.3 Days Below Thresholds

Threshold	2024	2025	Δ
< 100 gCO₂eq/kWh	366	365	-1
< 200 gCO₂eq/kWh	366	365	-1
< 300 gCO₂eq/kWh	366	365	-1

5.4 Hours Below Thresholds

Threshold	2024	2025	Δ
< 100 gCO₂eq/kWh	8,784	8,760	-24
< 200 gCO₂eq/kWh	8,784	8,760	-24
< 300 gCO₂eq/kWh	8,784	8,760	-24

5.5 Average Carbon Intensity by Hour of Day

2025 Average Carbon Intensity by Hour

gCO₂eq/kWh

5.6 Seasonal Carbon Intensity Patterns

Carbon intensity daily patterns shift with seasonal changes in renewable generation and electricity demand.

Winter (Dec-Feb)

Winter (Dec-Feb) Carbon Intensity

gCO₂eq/kWh

Peak: 47 g @ 18:00 | Trough: 35 g @ 02:00 | Spread: 12 g

Spring (Mar-May)

Spring (Mar-May) Carbon Intensity

gCO₂eq/kWh

Peak: 31 g @ 18:00 | Trough: 24 g @ 02:00 | Spread: 6 g

Summer (Jun-Aug)

Summer (Jun-Aug) Carbon Intensity

gCO₂eq/kWh

Peak: 29 g @ 20:00 | Trough: 20 g @ 02:00 | Spread: 9 g

Fall (Sep-Nov)

Fall (Sep-Nov) Carbon Intensity

gCO₂eq/kWh

Peak: 31 g @ 17:00 | Trough: 23 g @ 02:00 | Spread: 8 g

Seasonal Comparison

Summer offers the lowest carbon intensity, with midday troughs reaching 20 gCO₂/kWh—44% lower than winter. Winter evening peaks are the most carbon-intensive at 47 gCO₂/kWh. Scheduling flexible loads during seasonal low-carbon windows maximizes emission reductions.

5.7 Carbon Intensity Distribution (Hourly)

Carbon Intensity Distribution

Number of hours at each level

20242025

Notable monthly evolutions

ℹ️ Sep 2025: Carbon intensity was 24% lower in Sep

Change: -24% vs Sep 2024

ℹ️ Nov 2025: Carbon intensity was 20% lower in Nov

Change: -20% vs Nov 2024

Golden Hours

745 hours with both low price (<€21/MWh) and low carbon intensity (<20 gCO₂eq/kWh).

5.8 Multi-Level Carbon Intensity Heatmap

Carbon Intensity Heatmap

gCO₂eq/kWh

32.0 gCO₂eq/kWh yearly avg

hourly range: 14-87

Yearly

Monthly

Daily

Hourly

1200

600

0

6. Renewable & Carbon-Free Energy (Flow-Traced)

Includes electricity exchanged with neighboring grids

Renewable 2024

28.6%

Renewable 2025

27.9%

-0.7pp

Carbon-Free 2024

95.9%

Carbon-Free 2025

96.3%

+0.4pp

Monthly Carbon-Free Share

% of consumption (renewable + nuclear)

20242025

6.1 Days Above Thresholds

Days with carbon-free share above threshold

Threshold	2024	2025	Δ
≥50% carbon-free	0	0	0
≥60% carbon-free	0	0	0
≥70% carbon-free	0	0	0

6.2 Hours Above Thresholds

Hours with carbon-free share above threshold

Threshold	2024	2025	Δ
≥50% carbon-free	14	20	+6
≥60% carbon-free	0	0	0
≥70% carbon-free	0	0	0

6.3 Multi-Level Carbon-Free % Heatmap

Carbon-Free % Heatmap

96.3 % yearly avg

hourly range: 87-99

Yearly

Monthly

Daily

Hourly

100

50

0