The drop in gas consumption last year in France results not only from the high price of the resource but also from the “civility” of the French and the mild climate, assures the boss of the second European gas transporter.
Gas consumption has fallen in France over the whole of 2022, announced on Friday February 10 on franceinfo Thierry oublie, chairman and CEO of GRT Gaz. “It is due to two essential effects, firstly to a change in the behavior of the French because of good citizenship, but also very high prices” and to “a fairly mild winter” , he pointed out. The decrease corrected for the effects of the climate is 6.2%. It reaches 9% if the effects of the weather are taken into account, the mild temperatures having encouraged the French to consume less gas for heating.
“Behaviour is more important than the climate effect. What we do not know, however, is to distinguish between the part linked to good citizenship, savings and the part linked to the cessation of a certain number of industrial sites which, because of price levels, have chosen to stop, produce, postpone their production, or even sometimes to relocate, i.e. to produce outside France or Europe” , he explained.
“In solidarity, we exported a lot of gas”
France still has gas stocks: ” We managed to fill the stocks very early. We started emptying them very late and it was a safe way to get into winter. Today, we still have a fill level of around 57%. We will end the winter with a higher level than usual. This will help us for the following winter”he says. “The gas sector did the job in 2022. We really managed to reverse the flows, a complete change of foot”, he rejoiced.
This surplus of gas has made it possible to show solidarity with our European neighbours, in particular “vis-à-vis Belgium, vis-à-vis Germany, vis-à-vis Switzerland where we exported a lot, a lot of gas”, he indicated. Gas also made it possible to ensure continuity in the production of electricity in France: “Gas plants consumed 54% more than last year because they had to be mobilized throughout the year, in particular to help maintain water in the dams, to pass the winter, to cope when half of the nuclear power plant fleet was shut down, but also at the beginning of December, when there was no more wind in Europe to also replace wind power”, he explained.
Gas “produced in France from our waste” from next winter
Thierry Trouvé assures that France “hasn’t been getting Russian gas through the pipelines since last summer. There’s still some Russian gas coming in as liquefied natural gas.” The quantities of LNG imported into France in 2022 have doubled compared to 2021: “He comes especially from the United States, but also from North Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Angola”, he specifies.
France has seen a strong development of biomethane, produced using renewable materials: “Next winter, we will be able to count on 10 to 12% of what was the Russian gas which arrived before in France which will be gas produced in France by farmers or from our waste. Tomorrow it is renewable gas which will replace the fossil gas that we receive today”, he assures.