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The Belgian government is considering extending the lifetimes of three nuclear reactors (1.9 GW) by two years to 2027 to avoid winter power supply crunches, an energy ministry spokeswoman told Montel on Monday.
The government had asked operator Engie to carry out a review with the Belgian nuclear safety authority (AFCN) on the extensions, she said.
They will jointly look into keeping Doel 1 (445 MW), Doel 2 (445 MW) and Tihange 1 (962 MW) running, instead of shutting them down in 2025 as required by a 2003 law on phasing out nuclear energy, she added.
The government expected to decide on the extensions “by the end of March”, she said, confirming earlier local press reports.
She pointed to a recent government-ordered study from the national TSO that showed Belgium faced a potential 500 MW power shortage in winter 2024-2025, which could be bridged, and 900-1,200 MW shortage in winter 2026-2027, which would be more difficult to bridge.
Safeguarding measure
“We want to protect ourselves against this worst-case scenario,” she said, adding that Belgium usually relied on neighbours to cover peak winter demand but France had become a net power importer for the first time since 1980 last year amid reactor corrosion issues.
French utility Engie, which owns the Belgian units through its Electrabel subsidiary, had not responded to Montel’s request for comment at the time of writing.
Last week, Engie permanently shut down its Tihange 2 (1 GW) reactor, which leaves Belgium with 3.9 GW of nuclear capacity after the closure of Doel 3 (1 GW) last September.
However, the government and Engie agreed last month to extend the lifetime of Doel 4 and Tihange 3 (1 GW each) by 10 years to 2036 to ensure security of supply.
