Engie to extend lifetime of two Belgian nuclear plants

The Belgian government on Monday evening reached an agreement with French utility Engie on the extension of two nuclear plants until 2035.

The 1GW Tihange 3 and 1GW Doel 4 nuclear reactors will undergo maintenance before being restarted in November 2026 until 2035. The two units will be operated by a "legal structure jointly owned by the Belgian State and Engie", according to energy minister Tinne van der Straeten.

"We have taken a crucial step towards extending the life of the two youngest nuclear power plants by winter 2026. Engie starts preparations today", van der Straeten said.

In addition, the agreement laid down a framework for capping future costs of nuclear waste treatment and implementing a risk premium.

The government was aiming to strike a final deal by the end of 2022 after signing a letter of intent in July. Engie did not immediately comment on the reasons behind the delay.

Belgium was previously planning to completely phase out all of its seven reactors by 2025. However it came back on its plans in March last year, due to uncertainties over gas security of supply, deciding to extend two plants by 10 years while the rest would be shut down as planned.

The country had 5.9GW of installed nuclear capacity as of the beginning of 2022. But the 1GW Doel 3 nuclear plant was permanently shut down at the end of September, although the government has asked about a possible delay of the shutdown. And the 1GW Tihange 2 plant is due to go off line in February, raising prospects of a drop in nuclear generation in the coming years.

By Tatiana Serova