Even with the health crisis, the breakdown of consumption by sector was similar to 2019 (excluding EDF-SEIEDF-SEI is an integrated operator that generates, purchases, transmits, distributes and supplies electricity in non-interconnected island territories and LDCsLocal Distribution Companies. These are, along with Enedis, the operators of the distribution system, intermediaries between the transmission grid and final customers. There are approximately 150 LDCs across France).
Final electricity consumption was once against highest in the business and professionals (47%) segment, followed by residential (nearly 38%) and then heavy industryFinal customers getting electricity directly from the transmission system operator (16%).

Seasonally adjusted consumptionPower that would have been consumed if temperatures had been the same as reference temperatures, and if there was no 29th day in February for leap years had been stable for seven years for SME/SMIs, professionals, businesses and residential customers connected to the distribution grid, including losses, but in 2020 it declined by 2.5% relative to 2019.
With people spending more time at home (remote or short-time working, etc.), consumption in the residential sector rose by around 5% during the first lockdown. This increase was driven primarily by:

• Information and communication technologies, with increased use of audio-visual and computer equipment;
• Cooking, as more people were preparing lunch at home.

Over 2020 as a whole, electricity consumption in the residential sector (shaped in large part by weather) was flat on 2019.

Electricity consumption by industrial users* directly connected to the public transmission network ended the year at 61.9 TWh*, down more than 10% from 2019.
Productive activity in heavy industry was substantially affected by the health crisis, as government measures caused a number of production sites to shut down. Industry was also negatively impacted by the stoppage of distribution channels, lower demand for manufactured goods, absenteeism, and supply chain problems resulting from the lockdown.
Total activity in heavy industry plummeted in the wake of the first lockdown starting on 18 March, and was down by about 30% relative to pre-crisis levels in April. Industrial activity gradually picked up thereafter, but did not return to normal levels.

* including self-consumption but excluding losses, seasonally adjusted

Electricity consumption at industrial sites mirrored this trend in productive activity, with particularly notable declines in the car-making and steel industries.
The first lockdown naturally had a direct and immediate impact on consumption in the interurban rail transport segment: in April, it plunged by more than 70% year-on-year. When the lockdown was lifted, the year-on-year shortfall gradually shrank, reaching 9% in August.
The second confinement ordered late in October was less restrictive but also impacted industrial activity. In November, electricity consumption in heavy industry was down 4.5% relative to the same month in 2019. As was the case during the first lockdown, rail transport was the most affected, with consumption dropping by close to 30% in the first two weeks of November.

The energy transition toward carbon neutrality requires adapting how energy is produced and considerably changing how it is consumed. France’s National Low-Carbon StrategyNational Low-Carbon Strategy, or “National Strategy for Low-Carbon Development”, published in November 2015, is a roadmap for France. It is designed to promote an energy transition that produces a “decarbonised” society, i.e. one that no longer relies on fossil fuels, so that France can reduce or eliminate its contribution to climate change (contribution mainly resulting from greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels and the deterioration of carbon sinks). The ultimate goal is to allow France to meet its targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 and 2050 thus calls for major changes in energy uses: a reduction in total energy consumption (around 50% from current levels, per the objectives set forth in the energy transition act), driven by robust energy efficiency measures across all sectors and by energy savings efforts, together with a transition to low-carbon sources and vectors, notably electricity.
These changes will result in electricity accounting for a much larger share of energy consumption by 2050. Most scenarios showing a path to carbon neutrality factor in this same trend.
As part of its effort to study in greater depth the development of electricity uses and the consequences for the power system, RTE published three thematic studies between 2019 and 2020, in partnership with institutions, focused on electricity use in these areas:

• Electric mobility;
• Decarbonised hydrogen production;
• Buildings and heating systems.

The aggregate impact of these changes is considered in the Long-Term Generation Adequacy Report, “Energy Futures 2050”, the results of which will be published in the autumn of 2021.