Europe / Caspian / CIS
Country profile: France
| Location: | Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain,0 |
| Climate: | generally cool winters and mild summers, but mild winters and hot summers along the Mediterranean; occasional strong, cold, dry, north-to-northwesterly wind known as mistral |
| Terrain: | mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west; remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in east |
| Size: | 547030 sq. km total (Land area: 545630 sq. km Water area: 1400 sq.km) |
| Population: | 60,876,136 in metropolitan France (July 2008 est.) |
| Languages: | French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) |
| Government: | republic |
| Capital city: | Paris |
| Legal system: | civil law system with indigenous concepts; review of administrative but not legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Currency: | euro (EUR) |
| Licensing: |
Country profile
In 2004, France consumed 11.2 quadrillion Btu of total energy. Nuclear energy was the largest share, representing 39 percent, followed by oil (36 percent), natural gas (16 percent) and hydroelectricity (5 percent). France is the second-largest producer of nuclear power in the world, after the United States, however, nuclear energy is a much larger share of France’s total energy consumption than the United States (8 percent in 2004).
Energy production and consumption
| Oil | Gas | |
| Production: | 73,180 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 1 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Consumption: | 1 million bbl/day (2005 est.) | 47 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Exports: | 474,200 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 863 million cu m (2004 est.) |
| Imports: | 1 million bbl/day (2005 est.) | 47 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Reserves: | 158 million bbl (1 January 2006 est.) | 341 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Major fields: |
France - recent news
| 25 Nov 25 |
France: TotalEnergies demobilizes its floating LNG terminal in Le Havre In 2022, when Europe faced a major energy crisis due to a sharp decline in gas imports from Russia, TotalEnergies provided France, at its own expense and without any public subsidies, with a LNG floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in the port of Le Havre. Now that gas supply conditions in France and Europe have stabilized, TotalEnergies has decided to demobilize its LNG FSRU in Le Havre. |
| 18 Nov 25 |
France: Plenitude strengthens its presence in France by signing an agreement to acquire a Neoen portfolio of renewable assets totaling around 760 MW Plenitude has signed an agreement to acquire from Neoen, a leading renewable energy company, a portfolio of 52 operating assets, including 37 photovoltaic plants, 14 wind farms, and one operating battery storage facility, for a total of approximately 760 MW installed capacity located throughout France. The assets produce approx. 1.1 TWh of electricity annually. |
| 10 Nov 25 |
France: RWE secures two more onshore wind projects at French regulation latest bidding round RWE has successfully secured two of the 42 projects in the latest bidding round. Fully owned by RWE, the two projects have a total capacity of 21.6 MW. The Balinot wind project reinforces RWE’s regional presence in the Oise department, and the Langonnet project contributes to its development in Brittany. |
| 09 Nov 25 |
France: New €7.3 million project tackles offshore wind challenge with game-changing superconducting tech A new €7.3 million project is tackling one of offshore wind’s biggest barriers, by developing superconducting cables that can deliver power from deep-sea turbines with near-zero energy loss. Air Liquide, CentraleSupélec, ITP Interpipe, Nexans and RTE have formed a consortium to develop a High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) superconducting power transmission system demonstrator. |
| 29 Oct 25 |
France: PNE sells two wind farm projects in France with a total capacity of 25.7 MW The PNE Group continues to succeed in the French market and has completed the sale of two premium wind farm projects. 'Clermont-en-Argonne' wind farm is being taken over by JP Energie Environnement. 'Genouillé' wind farm has been purchased by Sorégies. |
France - more news
Other countries in this region
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- Bulgaria,
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- Tajikistan,
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- Turkey,
- Turkmenistan,
- Ukraine,
- United Kingdom,
- Uzbekistan
