Electrification of the Industry sector
279.9 TWh · 18.8% of national final energy consumption
Final energy consumption and electrification rate of the Industry sector in France, compared with other sectors and the national average.
Sector electrification rate, average change per year over the last 5 years, in percentage points
+0.08 pt/yr
Sector final energy consumption, average change per year over the last 5 years
−1.4%/yr
speeding up compared with the last ten years
Last change of direction: 2006
Breakdown by industrial branch
Final consumption and energy mix of the 13 branches of industry, from the European energy balance.
The branches partition the sector total exactly: their sum equals the industrial consumption shown above. Non-energy use (petrochemical feedstock) is excluded, as it is from the aggregate.
View data
| Branch | Consumption (TWh) | % electricity |
|---|---|---|
| Chemicals and petrochemicals | 64.9 | 29.8 |
| Food, beverages and tobacco | 55.3 | 40 |
| Non-metallic minerals | 34.1 | 19.1 |
| Paper, pulp and printing | 25.9 | 22.8 |
| Construction | 21.2 | 16 |
| Iron and steel | 17.1 | 52.6 |
| Machinery and equipment | 16.8 | 64.2 |
| Transport equipment | 11.8 | 49.8 |
| Other industries | 9.8 | 62.8 |
| Non-ferrous metals | 9.5 | 70.8 |
| Wood and wood products | 7.1 | 29.4 |
| Mining and quarrying | 4 | 24.6 |
| Textile and leather | 2.4 | 46.7 |
Thermal renewables: renewables and biofuels as defined by the Eurostat nomenclature (code RA000: wood and other solid biofuels, liquid biofuels, biogas, the renewable share of municipal waste, solar thermal, geothermal, ambient heat captured by heat pumps), to which this grouping adds non-renewable waste (code W6100_6220).
Electricity and gas by branch, distribution networks
Consumption of each branch on the Enedis and GRDF networks in 2024, electricity and gas.
Distribution network scope: industrial sites connected to the transmission grid (HTB for electricity) are absent, as are fuel oil, biomass and heat. These volumes do not add up to the European balance above, and the ratio between the two bars is an order of magnitude, not an electrification rate. The classification is NAF divisions, distinct from Eurostat: “Metallurgy” here covers both iron and steel and non-ferrous metals, and energy production and distribution (NAF 35) is excluded.
View data
| Branch | Electricity (Enedis) | Gas (GRDF) |
|---|---|---|
| Food, beverages and tobacco | 16.69 | 12.03 |
| Metal products, machinery and equipment | 7.9 | 4.15 |
| Chemicals and pharmaceuticals | 4.99 | 4.61 |
| Non-metallic minerals | 3.46 | 3.48 |
| Rubber and plastics | 4.52 | 1.22 |
| Paper, board and printing | 2.56 | 1.75 |
| Construction | 2.04 | 2 |
| Transport equipment | 2.67 | 1.35 |
| Basic metals | 1.37 | 1.21 |
| Wood and wood products | 1.54 | 0.27 |
| Textile, clothing and leather | 0.91 | 0.89 |
| Mining and quarrying | 1.07 | 0.38 |
| Other manufacturing | 0.88 | 0.45 |
| Coking and refining | 0.07 | 0.11 |
Sector electrification
View data
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Electrification rate - Industry | 35.7% |
View data
| Sector | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2035 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industry | 32.2 | 31.8 | 32.7 | 33 | 33.8 | 33.8 | 32.7 | 33.7 | 35.1 | 35.4 | 36 | 34.4 | 34.9 | 35.1 | 37.1 | 36.9 | 36.9 | 35.4 | 34.9 | 36.6 | 36.4 | 34.2 | 34.9 | 34.3 | 35.3 | 35.6 | 35.2 | 35.9 | 35.8 | 36 | 35.7 | 35 | 35.3 | 35.8 | 35.7 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| trend extended (5 yrs) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 35.7 | 35.8 | 35.9 | 35.9 | 36 | 36.1 | — |
| Objectif industrie (PPE3) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 47 |
The vertical line marks the last detected trend break: the year that best splits the series into two distinct trends. It only appears when the two slopes genuinely differ. Otherwise the curve is a straight line, and marking an inflection would be inventing one.
The dotted line mechanically extends the slope of the last five years. It is not a forecast: it embeds no policy, no announced investment and no saturation effect. It answers “where does the current pace lead”, not “what will happen”. Not to be confused with the official trajectory, drawn as a grey dashed line with diamonds.
- 2005: European emissions trading system starts (phase 1) EUR-Lex, Directive 2003/87/EC (new tab)
- 2015: Energy transition for green growth act published in the Official Journal Légifrance, Act no. 2015-992 of 17 August 2015 (new tab)
These dates place official texts on the time axis. They demonstrate no link with the curve: a coincidence of timing is not an explanation.
Our reading
The electrification of French industry stopped advancing in 2006. The electricity share was gaining 0.31 points a year until 2006; since then it has been flat to within a hundredth of a point, around 35%. Over the same period industrial consumption fell from 364 to 280 TWh: electricity is not gaining ground, but receding at the same pace as everything else.
Written on 2026-09-19 · based on Eurostat - Complete energy balances (nrg_bal_c)
Electrification, or shrinking industry?
Falling industrial consumption can mean an industry electrifying and becoming more efficient, or an industry closing down. Set against output, the fall stops being ambiguous: this is the only place on the site where the two can be told apart.
INSEE industrial production index, base 2021, distributed by DBnomics. 1990 to 2024. BRUT series: on an annual average, averaging twelve months removes seasonality; what is missing is the working-day correction, a second-order effect.
Manufacturing scope (NACE section C) on both sides of the ratio: construction and mining are excluded from the numerator, as the index does not cover them.
View data
| Year | Output (index) | Consumption (TWh) | Electricity share (%) | Energy intensity | Electricity intensity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 95.7 | 336.2 | 32.4 | 100 | 100 |
| 1991 | 94.5 | 348 | 31.9 | 104.9 | 103.3 |
| 1992 | 93.4 | 350.6 | 33 | 106.9 | 108.9 |
| 1993 | 89.1 | 347.2 | 33.3 | 111 | 114.1 |
| 1994 | 92.8 | 344.3 | 34.4 | 105.6 | 112 |
| 1995 | 95.5 | 351.3 | 34.4 | 104.7 | 111.2 |
| 1996 | 95.9 | 366.7 | 33.3 | 108.9 | 111.7 |
| 1997 | 101.1 | 366.2 | 34.2 | 103.2 | 108.8 |
| 1998 | 105.6 | 357.6 | 36.2 | 96.4 | 107.8 |
| 1999 | 108.5 | 358.4 | 36.4 | 94.1 | 105.6 |
| 2000 | 113.1 | 358.2 | 36.6 | 90.2 | 101.9 |
| 2001 | 114.2 | 373.4 | 35.2 | 93.1 | 101 |
| 2002 | 112.6 | 359.4 | 36.2 | 90.9 | 101.5 |
| 2003 | 111 | 358.1 | 36.5 | 91.8 | 103.3 |
| 2004 | 113.6 | 345.8 | 38.5 | 86.7 | 103 |
| 2005 | 113.5 | 356.2 | 38.2 | 89.4 | 105.4 |
| 2006 | 114.5 | 343.6 | 38.1 | 85.4 | 100.3 |
| 2007 | 116.1 | 356.4 | 36.2 | 87.4 | 97.6 |
| 2008 | 112.4 | 350.4 | 35.8 | 88.8 | 98.1 |
| 2009 | 97.1 | 290.3 | 37.6 | 85.1 | 98.8 |
| 2010 | 101.7 | 306.6 | 37.4 | 85.8 | 99.1 |
| 2011 | 105.3 | 321.9 | 35.1 | 87 | 94.4 |
| 2012 | 101.9 | 317.6 | 35.8 | 88.7 | 97.9 |
| 2013 | 101.3 | 318.1 | 35.2 | 89.4 | 97 |
| 2014 | 101 | 305.9 | 36.4 | 86.2 | 96.9 |
| 2015 | 102.5 | 300.7 | 36.7 | 83.5 | 94.6 |
| 2016 | 102.9 | 309.3 | 36.3 | 85.6 | 95.7 |
| 2017 | 105.5 | 299.6 | 37.1 | 80.8 | 92.5 |
| 2018 | 106.2 | 301.4 | 37 | 80.8 | 92.1 |
| 2019 | 106.8 | 294.1 | 37.4 | 78.4 | 90.4 |
| 2020 | 94.6 | 271.8 | 37 | 81.8 | 93.3 |
| 2021 | 100 | 294.2 | 36.3 | 83.8 | 93.9 |
| 2022 | 101.9 | 274.3 | 37 | 76.6 | 87.5 |
| 2023 | 102.4 | 257.5 | 37.5 | 71.6 | 82.8 |
| 2024 | 102.4 | 254.7 | 37.5 | 70.8 | 82 |
Our reading
Manufacturing consumption is down 24% since 1990 while output is up 7%: that fall is an efficiency gain, not deindustrialisation. Between 1990 and 2006, electricity intensity returns to its starting level (100, then 100.3, after a peak at 114 in 1993) while energy intensity loses 15 points: electricity was replacing other fuels, and its share rose 5.7 points. Since then electricity intensity has fallen faster than energy intensity and the share has stalled.
Written on 2026-09-16 · based on INSEE - Industrial production index (2021 base), through DBnomics · Eurostat - Complete energy balances (nrg_bal_c)
The within-year sector signal
This site reads industry only annually. This dataset carries the declared activity sector, in NACE sections, monthly and on the transmission network, which the Enedis and GRDF layers do not cover.
RTE via Open Data Réseaux Énergies, consolidated daily withdrawals by activity section, aggregated monthly. 2020-01 to 2026-07. Incomplete months are not plotted: a partial month is not a low month.
Transmission network (400 to 45 kV). “Industry” groups sections C (manufacturing) and B (mining), the Eurostat scope. Section D (electricity, gas and steam supply) is plotted separately and never added in: it is what would make a combined-cycle gas plant count as an industrial site.
View data
| Month | Industry (GWh) | of which manufacturing | of which mining | Energy production (GWh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-01 | 3,846.1 | 3,822.2 | 23.9 | 36.6 |
| 2020-02 | 3,797.4 | 3,772.8 | 24.7 | 32.4 |
| 2020-03 | 3,470.5 | 3,448 | 22.5 | 33.6 |
| 2020-04 | 3,253.5 | 3,227.5 | 25.9 | 32.9 |
| 2020-05 | 3,691.7 | 3,664.3 | 27.4 | 32.3 |
| 2020-06 | 3,692.8 | 3,661.1 | 31.7 | 20.1 |
| 2020-07 | 3,833.2 | 3,793.7 | 39.5 | 22.3 |
| 2020-08 | 3,513.8 | 3,482.7 | 31.1 | 32.2 |
| 2020-09 | 3,925.5 | 3,890.5 | 35 | 20.6 |
| 2020-10 | 4,065.4 | 4,028.5 | 37 | 28.1 |
| 2020-11 | 3,790.2 | 3,764.9 | 25.3 | 28.1 |
| 2020-12 | 3,687.6 | 3,665.5 | 22.2 | 29.4 |
| 2021-01 | 3,901.4 | 3,877.3 | 24.1 | 39.9 |
| 2021-02 | 3,627.6 | 3,604.3 | 23.3 | 30 |
| 2021-03 | 3,959.4 | 3,934.3 | 25.1 | 34.6 |
| 2021-04 | 3,939.3 | 3,911 | 28.3 | 34.5 |
| 2021-05 | 4,113.5 | 4,081.6 | 31.9 | 25.5 |
| 2021-06 | 4,085.8 | 4,057.9 | 27.9 | 25.8 |
| 2021-07 | 4,177.4 | 4,146.9 | 30.5 | 26 |
| 2021-08 | 3,764.3 | 3,744.4 | 19.9 | 25.5 |
| 2021-09 | 4,080.5 | 4,052.4 | 28.1 | 24.7 |
| 2021-10 | 4,037.3 | 4,002.5 | 34.8 | 26.6 |
| 2021-11 | 3,734.2 | 3,710.5 | 23.7 | 28.9 |
| 2021-12 | 3,709.4 | 3,686.8 | 22.6 | 36.4 |
| 2022-01 | 3,790.5 | 3,764.6 | 25.9 | 46.9 |
| 2022-02 | 3,478.8 | 3,454.2 | 24.5 | 31 |
| 2022-03 | 3,872.4 | 3,842.3 | 30.1 | 33.1 |
| 2022-04 | 3,611.8 | 3,583.9 | 27.9 | 35.4 |
| 2022-05 | 3,942.6 | 3,912.3 | 30.2 | 46.7 |
| 2022-06 | 3,892.8 | 3,863.9 | 28.9 | 29.3 |
| 2022-07 | 4,028.6 | 3,997.5 | 31.1 | 42.7 |
| 2022-08 | 3,580.2 | 3,557.6 | 22.6 | 44.5 |
| 2022-09 | 3,647.5 | 3,625.2 | 22.2 | 37.7 |
| 2022-10 | 3,478.3 | 3,447.7 | 30.6 | 35.2 |
| 2022-11 | 3,100.3 | 3,079.7 | 20.7 | 44.6 |
| 2022-12 | 2,938.9 | 2,921.3 | 17.6 | 56.1 |
| 2023-01 | 3,098.1 | 3,075.5 | 22.5 | 50.8 |
| 2023-02 | 2,996.5 | 2,976.3 | 20.2 | 50.7 |
| 2023-03 | 3,310.1 | 3,287 | 23 | 32.7 |
| 2023-04 | 3,581.8 | 3,554.6 | 27.2 | 35.5 |
| 2023-05 | 3,796.8 | 3,764.8 | 32 | 45.5 |
| 2023-06 | 3,605.2 | 3,575.5 | 29.7 | 36.7 |
| 2023-07 | 3,830.4 | 3,800.6 | 29.8 | 44.7 |
| 2023-08 | 3,516.6 | 3,492 | 24.6 | 36.7 |
| 2023-09 | 3,788.7 | 3,754.6 | 34 | 35.6 |
| 2023-10 | 3,788.1 | 3,752.3 | 35.8 | 33.6 |
| 2023-11 | 3,457.7 | 3,438.2 | 19.6 | 48.9 |
| 2023-12 | 3,175.6 | 3,159.7 | 15.8 | 53.2 |
| 2024-01 | 3,397.2 | 3,376.5 | 20.7 | 49.2 |
| 2024-02 | 3,315.5 | 3,295.1 | 20.4 | 33.7 |
| 2024-03 | 3,555.9 | 3,534.1 | 21.8 | 38.8 |
| 2024-04 | 3,709.2 | 3,686.9 | 22.3 | 39 |
| 2024-05 | 3,799.5 | 3,777.8 | 21.7 | 28.5 |
| 2024-06 | 3,789.1 | 3,761.4 | 27.7 | 27.7 |
| 2024-07 | 3,975.8 | 3,943 | 32.8 | 25 |
| 2024-08 | 3,591.8 | 3,564.6 | 27.2 | 34.7 |
| 2024-09 | 3,729.1 | 3,694.7 | 34.4 | 32 |
| 2024-10 | 3,834.4 | 3,805 | 29.5 | 36.1 |
| 2024-11 | 3,450.5 | 3,428.7 | 21.9 | 34.8 |
| 2024-12 | 3,248.2 | 3,229.5 | 18.7 | 42.8 |
| 2025-01 | 3,452.5 | 3,434.8 | 17.7 | 62.2 |
| 2025-02 | 3,179.2 | 3,160.3 | 19 | 52.4 |
| 2025-03 | 3,601.1 | 3,580.4 | 20.7 | 50.5 |
| 2025-04 | 3,744.4 | 3,718.8 | 25.6 | 42.1 |
| 2025-05 | 3,843.9 | 3,816.8 | 27.1 | 36.8 |
| 2025-06 | 3,693.9 | 3,662.8 | 31.2 | 35.7 |
| 2025-07 | 3,908.7 | 3,874.8 | 34 | 34.3 |
| 2025-08 | 3,573.1 | 3,548.6 | 24.5 | 32.7 |
| 2025-09 | 3,761.5 | 3,727.5 | 34 | 24.4 |
| 2025-10 | 3,645.7 | 3,612.5 | 33.2 | 24.5 |
| 2025-11 | 3,326 | 3,308.7 | 17.2 | 32.1 |
| 2025-12 | 3,212.1 | 3,196.1 | 16 | 36.3 |
| 2026-01 | 3,501.4 | 3,481.1 | 20.2 | 50.1 |
| 2026-02 | 3,360.6 | 3,341.9 | 18.6 | 28.4 |
| 2026-03 | 3,666.2 | 3,647.1 | 19.1 | 27.4 |
| 2026-04 | 3,727 | 3,703 | 24 | 30.4 |
| 2026-05 | 3,802.9 | 3,772.8 | 30.1 | 30.8 |
| 2026-06 | 3,729.1 | 3,699.3 | 29.8 | 29.8 |
| 2026-07 | 3,779.8 | 3,747.5 | 32.2 | 29.6 |
Our reading
Transmission-connected industry consumes 42 to 47 TWh a year depending on the year, the part of industrial consumption that distribution-network series do not see. Energy production, separable here, accounts for only 0.3 to 0.5 TWh: excluding it changes the total little but guarantees no power plant is counted as an industrial site. The rolling average shows a decline from 2021 to 2023 then a plateau, which annual data alone could not date.
Written on 2026-09-19 · based on RTE - Consolidated daily withdrawals on the transmission network, by section of activity · SDES - Local energy data (inter-municipal authorities)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_c), 1990-2024 series · Target: PPE3 (decree No. 2026-76, 2026)
The target's baseline (30%, decree) differs from the rate recalculated here for 2024 (35.7%). See methodology.