Belgium has reached an agreement with operator Engie (ENGIE.PA) to extend the use of the country’s nuclear reactors by 10 years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted Belgium’s governing coalition to rethink plans to rely more on natural gas.
Belgium was to have exited nuclear power entirely by 2025, but will now extend the lives of its two newest reactors, Doel 4 and Tihange 3, according to the agreement.
“It strengthens our electricity supply, reduces our country’s energy dependence and guarantees the production in Belgium of low-carbon, low-cost electricity,” Prime Minister Alexander de Croo said in a statement.
The accord with the French utility also sets a price for future nuclear waste management costs, of 15 billion euros ($16 billion). Based on current nuclear provisions, Engie’s total nuclear liabilities to Belgium now amount to at least 23 billion euros.
That agreement also includes creating a 50:50 joint venture to manage the units.
“It gives Engie the necessary visibility on the overall cost of nuclear waste management and significantly reduces the risks associated with extending the two units,” Engie CEO Catherine MacGregor said in a statement.
Energy minister Tinne Van der Straeten said the deal allowed Belgium to secure the financing of nuclear waste management for future generations.
“The war in Ukraine has profoundly changed Europe’s energy landscape, and it has become urgent to rid ourselves of our dependence on fossil fuels and take our energy back into our own hands,” van der Straeten said in a statement.
Tihange is a 1,038 megawatt (MW) reactor in eastern Belgium. Doel is a 1,039 MW reactor near the port city of Antwerp. The reactors, which entered service in 1985, make up 35% of the country’s nuclear energy capacity.
The agreement is expected to be implemented at the end of July 2023.
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Source: Reuters