PARIS, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- France set a new record for electricity exports for the second consecutive year in 2025, according to a report released on Thursday by the country's electricity transmission system operator RTE.
The report said France recorded net electricity exports of 92 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025, up from 89 TWh in 2024. It added that France was a major net exporter to all of its neighboring countries, with the exception of Spain, where electricity trade remained close to balance.
According to Les Echos, a French economic daily, the strong export performance was driven by two main factors. Nuclear power generation has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels following the gradual return to service of reactors previously affected by stress corrosion issues. By contrast, the recovery in domestic electricity consumption has been slow. Stable compared with 2024, it remains well below the levels seen in France during the 2010s.
According to the report, France's electricity consumption stood at about 449 TWh in 2025, unchanged from 2024 and around 6 percent lower than the average recorded between 2014 and 2019 for the third consecutive year, indicating that electricity demand has yet to align with the country's decarbonization and reindustrialization goals. ■