Gas consumption in France continues to fall, with a gross volume of 361 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2024. That's 20 less than in 2023, and 113 less than in 2021, according to NaTran (formerly called GRTgaz), the number-one operator of the national gas transmission network, which presented its review of the past year on Tuesday, March 4.

How can this further decline be explained? Firstly, because nuclear power and hydroelectricity are becoming more powerful again, and gas-fired power plants are being used less to produce electricity (16 TWh in 2024, 56% less than in 2023). NaTran, a subsidiary of the electric utility company Engie, also notes a "trend erosion" of consumption in French households (heating, hot water, cooking), the tertiary sector and small businesses, with 235 TWh in 2024 (down 0.6%). Conversely, given the downturn in energy prices, consumption is set to rise slightly again (over 109 TWh, +0.8%) among large industrial companies in the chemical, petrochemical, food processing and metallurgy sectors.

Beyond all these figures, there remains a sensitive question: given that France imports almost all its gas needs, how much Russian gas does the country still consume? Since May 2022 (three months after the invasion of Ukraine by Moscow's troops), the European Commission has set itself the target of ending all dependence by 2027.

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