Summary

1. The role of gas in the economy
2. The key role of gas in the energy mix
3. Renewable gas: on the road to carbon neutrality

GRDF is France’s primary gas distribution system operator (DSO), collecting decentralized biomethane production and distributing it along with natural gas to more than 11 million customers every day for heating, cooking, and mobility, no matter who the supplier is.

GRDF designs, builds, operates, and maintains Europe’s largest distribution network across more than 9,500 municipalities while guaranteeing the safety of people and assets and ensuring delivery quality.  

Regulations are changing, but one common purpose remains the same: renewable gases and gas infrastructures will play a crucial role in tomorrow’s energy mix if we are to achieve affordable, resilient carbon neutrality by 2050.  

This is why the gas network must be ready to cost-efficiently accommodate all new gases.

The role of gas in the economy

French industry does not only consume gas for heating buildings, but also for production processes. The metal industry, paper mills, food processing, cement plants, glassmakers, and the automotive industry are the primary sectors for which gas is the preferred energy source. 

Gross energy consumption including raw material usage, by type and sector in 2020 for industrial energy consumption, underlined that gas is one of the most used combustibles. It represents about 1/3 of the total energy consumption in all sectors of activities.¹ 

Gas plays a crucial role in heating buildings. It meets the needs of 40% of French housing² –(one in three single-family houses and one out of two apartments) and nearly 50% of tertiary buildings³. Innovative, high-performance, and energy-efficient equipment guarantees a superior service in terms of heating for all types of tertiary buildings.  

The key role of gas in the energy mix

The energy mix comprises all the primary energy sources used by a country to meet its total energy consumption. In France, the energy mix is highly diverse. As a primary energy source, gas accounts for 15% of the country's annual energy consumption. 

Above all, gas infrastructures ensure that seasonal heating demand is met cost-effectively. In France, energy demand is several times higher in winter than in summer, primarily due to heating needs for buildings and while extreme cold spells are rare, they can cause sudden spikes in demand. To manage this, French gas grids are designed to cope with the harshest winters which occur less than twice a century, which is why their capacity is much larger than the electricity grid.   

Renewable gas: on the road to carbon neutrality

France has set ambitious goals for its energy transition. Among the most notable are: 

• Achieving "carbon neutrality" by 2050.  
• Halving final energy consumption between 2012 and 2050. 
• Renovating the entire building stock to achieve "Zero-emission building" standard by 2050 

Gas infrastructures will contribute to this transition by collecting, storing, and distributing renewable gases, enabling us to use them when and where required.  

The development of biomethane, a renewable gas produced locally from organic waste or residues, reflects 100% renewable energy. Given all these advantages, biogas production has been part of France's renewable energy development strategy since 2011. The Energy Transition for Green Growth Act (LTECV), established in 2015, sets a target of 10% renewable gas in the networks by 2030, which corresponds to 39 to 42 TWh. In 2019, the Prospective Committee of the French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) concluded that this target was already realistic and achievable (Panorama Gaz 2023).⁴ 

To ensure the long-term development of renewable energy in the French energy mix, it is necessary to promote synergies between the main sources of energy consumed. Here again, gas infrastructures hold a privileged position by enabling the storage of surplus renewable electricity (wind, solar) in the gas network. This process, known as "power-to-gas", further strengthens the central role of gas in a balanced and sustainable energy mix. 

In France, having 100% renewable gas in our networks by 2050 is achievable by combining all technologies and by focusing on sobriety, energy efficiency, and targeting the rights usage. In addition to anaerobic digestion, the main French production sector, pyro-gasification, hydrothermal gasification, and power-to-gas could potentially cover the entire gas demand by 2050. 

Our expertise spans numerous areas starting with gas distribution, which is our primary function. This role emphasizes our network’s safety as well as the innovation, research and development projects that support it. Furthermore, GRDF focuses on various mobility solutions including waterway and road transportation with various types of vehicles.