French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu outlined a national electrification plan on Friday aimed at reducing reliance on fossil fuels and strengthening the country’s energy sovereignty.
The plan centres on expanding domestic electricity use, drawing on France’s nuclear fleet and scaling up renewables. Fossil fuels still account for around 60% of the country’s energy consumption.
“A country is only truly free if it can stand firm when the world is in turmoil,” Lecornu said, arguing that France must curb its dependence on imported oil and gas.
“As long as we depend on oil and gas, we will continue to pay for other people’s wars,” Lecornu added.
To accelerate the shift, the government will nearly double annual support for electrification, from €5.5 billion to €10 billion by 2030, targeting housing, transport, industry and digital infrastructure.
Heat pumps
Housing is a central pillar of the plan. A ban on gas boilers in new buildings will take effect at the end of 2026, as the government pushes to make electric heating the default.
“We are going to make electric heating the norm where it is still the exception,” Lecornu said.
Looking ahead, the government will require the first 100 selected territories to commit to a “zero-gas” pathway by 2030.
France is also preparing a large-scale roll-out of heat pumps, with a target of installing at least 1 million units per year by 2030, supported by public subsidies. The transition will be slower in social housing, with a target of converting 2 million homes by 2050.
Electric car sales surge 69% in France as European energy crisis deepens
French and Dutch market data for March shows consumer markets piling into EVs as the…
2 minutes
Electric vehicles
The plan also sets out an ambitious shift in transport. By 2030, two-thirds of new cars sold in France are expected to be electric.
French car manufacturers will have to ramp up their production of electric vehicles, with a target of 400,000 per year from 2027, rising to one million per year by 2030.
Lecornu pointed out that a 100-kilometre journey costs on average between €2 and €3 in an electric vehicle, compared with an average of €11 for a diesel vehicle.
The social leasing scheme will be expanded to support low-income households (50,000 EVs from June) and middle-income frequent drivers, including nurses and tradespeople, with a further 50,000 vehicles.
EU probes French aid to EDF for new nuclear reactors
French plans to support energy group EDF in the construction of six new nuclear reactors…
2 minutes
(cs)
