France risks gas undershoot

The need for flexible back-up for renewables and nuclear plants may mean the country needs more gas than it thinks

France is bearish on gas demand, despite having built out one of the continent’s most modern combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) fleets over the past 15 years. Its 10-year energy and climate plan recently submitted to the European Commission sets out an objective to reduce primary gas consumption by 10pc by 2023 and 22pc by 2028 compared with 2012 levels. The country’s current annual gas consumption is around 470TWh (45.4bn m³). Energy efficiency in France’s building stock will be the main driver for demand reduction in the plan’s projections. Most of France’s 12GW gas-fired fleet is idle due to Covid-19 demand destruction. Last year, though, gas-fired power production in France increased by 2