Yes, that is correct. The first half of 2023 was a new record low in electricity consumption for first half years (since 2015). You can also see that by toggeling the “Load” category. Extreme values in the tracked time period: maximum load 1,347 TWh in 2018 and minimum load this year with 1,219 TWh. Compared to last years first half there was:
Finally to make the sums match up, we can look at the import balance: in the first half of 2022 the EU net imported 5.771 TWh, this year it net exported 4.23 TWh.
Yes, I’m sorry if I presented that confusingly. That 31.7% is new record low for a first half year, both in terms of fraction of overall load and in absolute terms. The rebound after Corona was really short-lived and hopefully we’ll see that record beaten every year from now on. Let’s shoot for 0 fossil fuels!
Not the one you are asking but:
Why does battery technology not exist? It seems to be increasingly in use?
As for the question: a fairly good overview on balancing options and the challenges in decarbonizing the energy system is offered in the 6th assessment report by working group 3 of the IPCC (PDF). See Box 6.8 on page 675, which lists an overview on balancing options, where nuclear power is one of many:
Given the wealth of technological options and developments, why narrow down the view on a single solution and pretend that it is the only one?