France's Grid Faces 18 GW Data‑Center Power Surge

RTE, France’s electricity transmission operator, says the number of data‑center projects seeking grid connections has risen from about 40 to roughly 80 in the past 18 months, driven largely by the power‑intensive demands of artificial‑intelligence workloads. The combined reservation requests total about 18 GW, a level comparable to the capacity of an entire city, though actual consumption will be lower because reservations do not guarantee full‑time use.

To cope with the influx, RTE has introduced a “fast‑track” procedure that speeds up studies and construction for the largest projects, aiming to avoid multi‑year delays for investors. The rapid‑track is limited to a small number of priority sites and involves early planning of high‑voltage substations and transmission lines, even as the ultimate draw on the network remains uncertain.

RTE stresses that while the reserved capacity represents a significant share of France’s total electricity demand—typically 50‑100 GW at any moment—the operator must treat each request seriously and plan the grid over decades to ensure reliability.