Belgium postpones nuclear phaseout scheduled for 2025 owing to ongoing Ukraine war

In a significant development, Belgium has stalled its planned phaseout of nuclear power by 2025 by roughly a decade citing the dangerous and chaotic ‘geopolitical environment’ and the soaring energy prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The federal government of Belgium extended the operations of the Doel and Tihange nuclear power plants which is the extension of the nuclear capacity of 2 GW by over 10 years. "This extension will strengthen our country's independence from fossil fuels in a chaotic geopolitical environment," it said in a press release.

Further, the release read: “The extension should make it possible to strengthen the independence of our country vis-à-vis fossil fuels in a chaotic geopolitical context.” 

The delay of the suspension of nuclear energy was officially announced by the Ministry of Energy after extensive discussions with allies in the European Commission about the impact of the extension on the capacity remuneration mechanism (CRM). “Talks with the operator Engie will also continue.” The ministry informed, adding that the country has formulated a draft bill to include those arrangements. The bill will be submitted to the Council of Ministers at the end of March for approval. According to the bill, in the event of overproduction, nuclear power plants can also be used to launch the hydrogen market in Belgium. Simultaneously, the ministry concluded that a key Vilvoorde gas power plant has not received the necessary permits to partake. 

"The federal government has decided to take the necessary steps to extend the life of two nuclear reactors by ten years," Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in a statement. "This extension will strengthen our country's independence from fossil fuels in a turbulent geopolitical environment," he added.

Belgium proposes that neighbouring Germany must 'rethink' nuclear energy exit

Belgium also proposed that neighbouring Germany, Europe's largest economy, should rethink its nuclear energy exit as the war deprives several EU nations that heavily rely on the Russian gas supply to explore alternatives. Moscow supplies over 40 percent of Europe's total gas needs, primarily to Germany and Italy. As EU sanctions coordinated with the United States have sent the gas prices skyrocketing, Belgium refuses to stall the operation in a total of seven reactors that were agreed to be dismantled as enshrined in Belgian law drafted in 2003. Belgian cabinet called for an emergency session and subsequently announced extending the operation of the Doel 4 reactor near the port city of Antwerp and Tihange 3 near Liege until 2035.

Prime Minister De Croo cited the war as causing a lot of uncertainty. “The plan we have on the table today responds to that lack of vision,” he said, adding that Belgium attempted to negotiate with French energy giant Engie and reached this decision. The Belgian leader, though, warned that the two reactors in any case will not be available for the winter of 2025. The exit from nuclear energy was the main focus for the fragile seven-party coalition during the election of 2020. 

The war between Russia and Ukraine pushed the government to reconsider an alternative scenario, said De Croo. The nuclear plants were protested widely after cracks in the reactor pressure vessels emerged in 2012 raising safety hazard concerns. The Belgian government now plans to invest €1.1 billion to "accelerate independence from fossil fuels." The statement by the energy ministry stressed that the government will increase spending on renewable energies that will "accelerated through additional investments in offshore wind power, hydrogen, solar energy, and sustainable mobility."