French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on Friday outlined a national electrification plan aimed at reducing dependence on fossil fuels and strengthening the country’s energy sovereignty.
The plan focuses on expanding domestic electricity use, building on France’s nuclear fleet and increasing renewables. Fossil fuels still account for about 60% of the country’s energy consumption.
“A country is truly free only if it can stand firm when the world is in turmoil,” Lecornu saidarguing 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 change, the government will almost 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 come into effect at the end of 2026, as the government pushes for electric heating to be the default.
“We will make electric heating the norm where it is still the exception,” said Lecornu.
Looking ahead, the government will ask the first 100 selected territories to commit to a “zero gas” route by 2030.
France is also preparing a large-scale rollout of heat pumps, with the goal of installing at least 1 million units a year by 2030, supported by public subsidies. The transition will be slower in social housing, with the target of converting 2 million homes by 2050.
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Electric vehicles
The plan also envisages an ambitious shift in transport. By 2030, two-thirds of new cars sold in France are expected to be electric.
French carmakers will have to increase their production of electric vehicles, with a target of 400,000 a year from 2027, rising to one million a year by 2030.
Lecornu pointed out that a trip of 100 kilometers costs on average between 2 and 3 euros in an electric vehicle, compared to an average of 11 euros for a diesel vehicle.
The social rental scheme will be expanded to support low-income households (50,000 EVs from June) and frequent middle-income drivers, including nurses and tradespeople, with a further 50,000 vehicles.
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