French electricity consumption fell by almost 1,800 MW during the August 12 eclipse. Could the French have been too busy looking at the sky to turn on their electrical appliances?
L’eclipse of August 12, 2026 has it really caused French electricity consumption to fall? Although photovoltaic production suffered the blow, the decline remained significantly lower than forecast. But the most astonishing thing is elsewhere: at the same time, national consumption fell by almost 1,800 MW.
There Is the drop in consumption directly linked to the eclipse?…or did the millions of French people who had their eyes glued to the sky simply use their electrical devices less? THE RTE data provide an answer that is surprising to say the least.
Did the eclipse really reduce electricity consumption?
Yes. And significantly more than solar production. Before theAugust 12 eclipseRTE had above all alerted to a phenomenon likely to put the electricity network under tension: the sudden drop in sunshine would lead, in a few tens of minutes, to a reduction in photovoltaic production.
The forecasts were far from negligible. In the event of clear skies, French solar production could lose around 1,800 MW, while the European drop was expected to reach nearly 9,700 MW at the peak of the phenomenon. With more than 30 GW of photovoltaic capacity installed in France, a eclipse is now a real topic for network managers.
However, the reality was ultimately quite different. At the moment when the Moon came to hide the SunFrench photovoltaic panels have suffered the blow. But the decline linked to the eclipse was ultimately only around 700 MW, according to the first assessment communicated by RTE.
Why such a discrepancy with forecasts? Quite simply because the weather got involved. THE conditions observed at the time of the eclipse led to a photovoltaic production already lower than that retained in the RTE simulations. There solar production margin likely to disappear due to the passage of the Moon was therefore mechanically less important.
The eclipse did reduce solar production, but much less than expected. And that’s not ultimately where the most surprising figure lies… © Bill Ingalls / NASA
Did the French “turn off” their consumption to watch the eclipse?
At moment of eclipseRTE observed a drop in French electricity consumption of around 1,800 MW, more than double the drop in photovoltaic production actually attributed to the eclipse. RTE explains this drop by a very simple change in behavior: many French people went out to observe the phenomenon, temporarily abandoning certain electrical uses in their homes. Televisions, computers, lighting, household appliances… Some of the equipment usually used at that time was probably paused while their owners looked up at the sky.
L’eclipse therefore reduced solar productionbut also the electricity demand. For the network, the situation posed no difficulty: the eclipse did not cause any particular tension on the French electricity supply. And all the more so since a eclipse obviously does not come as a surprise for network managers. Its trajectory, schedule and areas affected are known well in advance. RTE can therefore include the expected drop in photovoltaic production in its forecasts and adapt the operation of the electrical system accordingly.
In 1999, during the previous great eclipse visible in France, photovoltaic solar power was still marginal. Today, France has more than 30 GW of installed solar capacity. A rapid variation in sunshine can now result in a variation of several thousand megawatts of production. And during the partial eclipse of March 20, 2015, photovoltaic production fell by around 2,000 MW in France and by 35 GW across Europe. Here again, the coordination of the network managers made it possible to control the system without difficulty. © Astronomical Society of France
So, has the eclipse really reduced consumption?
Yes, and very visibly. But we must clearly distinguish the two phenomena. L’eclipse did not cause a structural drop in French electricity consumption. It led to a one-off behavioral effect, linked to the fact that many French people temporarily abandoned certain electrical uses to attend the show. The drop, however, reached around 1,800 MW, a level significant enough to be clearly visible in RTE’s consumption data.
As for photovoltaics, the drop actually observed was around 700 MW, significantly less than the 1,800 MW anticipated in the clear sky scenario.
THE The results of this eclipse are therefore rather reassuring for the French electricity system. : solar power has actually declined, but the network has perfectly absorbed the phenomenon, while consumption has also fallen.
© Jim and Maria Curlin
