Nuclear: “agreement in principle” between Engie and the Belgian State to extend two reactors

The war in Ukraine has reshuffled the cards of European energy policy. The Belgian government announced on March 18 its decision to postpone for ten years its total exit from nuclear power, which was scheduled for 2025. This Friday, the Belgian State and Engie announced “an agreement in principle” which provides that the two reactors, whose life is to be extended, will be operated in a joint venture to be created by the two entities.

The two parties negotiate fiercely. They intend to reach “a final agreement by the end of the year and submit it to the European Commission”, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten said in a statement on Friday. . For the moment, the Belgian State and Engie have agreed “on the modalities concerning the future approach, the timing and the framework of the negotiations” with a view to this definitive agreement, they underline.

A 50/50 deal

This framework provides that the Doel 4 and Tihange 3 reactors, which together represent a nuclear capacity of 2 GW, restart in November 2026, subject to the approval of the safety authorities. They will be managed by “a new company to be created”, presented on the Belgian side as “a stable and sustainable structure in which the Belgian State and Engie share the risks as well as the benefits”. “The costs of dismantling nuclear power plants, and of managing fissile materials and radioactive waste, are borne by the operator,” warns the Belgian government.

The new entity will be “dedicated to the two units with the participation of the Belgian State and Electrabel [filiale belge d’Engie, NDLR] up to 50/50”, specifies the French group in a separate press release. Engie, which had judged this late announcement, had made it clear to the Belgian State for four months that it wanted a sharing of the bill to support two of the seven reactors it operates until 2035. Even today, Engie speaks of the “potential extension of two nuclear units”.

The promise of a gradual phase-out of nuclear energy has been enshrined in Belgian law since 2003, and giving it up was a reversal for the environmentalist party (Ecolo-Groen), partner of Alexander De Croo’s coalition, which took office on October 1, 2020. At the time, the government agreement reaffirmed this objective of closing the country’s seven power plants by 2025. According to Engie, a first reactor (Doel 3) must be definitively shut down at the end of September, a second (Tihange 2) on February 1, 2023, and three more gradually by 2025.

With AFP

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