The Belgian power transmission system operator (TSO) Elia has replaced Engie Electrabel's 796 MW Vilvoorde gas-fired project by Luminus's 805 MW gas-fired project in Seraing in the first auction of the capacity remuneration mechanism, which aims to ensure the security of power supply in Belgium after the closure of five of the seven nuclear reactors. Engie had failed to secure permits for the Vilvoorde project, leading to a "re-run" of the CRM mechanism in March 2022. The price is not made public due to the fact that only one candidate was selected in the "re-run" but was identical to the price submitted by Luminus in the October 2021 auction.
In November 2021, Elia released the results of the first capacity remuneration mechanism (CRM) auction for the 2025-2026 delivery year. 40 offers were selected, representing a total capacity of 4,448 MW at an annual average price of €31,671.57/MW. Most of the offered capacity came from existing units (56%), 7% from demand side management, 1% from batteries, and 36% from two new gas-fired CCGT power projects in Vilvoorde (796 MW) and Les Awirs (805 MW), that were both developed by Engie, through its Belgian affiliate Engie Electrabel.
According to Elia, nuclear accounted for 52% of Belgium's electricity generation in 2021 (compared to 40% in 2020) thanks to the higher availability of the nuclear fleet, followed by natural gas (25%, compared to 35% in 2020), wind (12%, including 7% offshore) and solar (5%).
Interested in Power Plants?
Enerdata has developed a market research service to screen, monitor and analyse the development of power generation assets.
Power Plant Tracker offers an interactive database and a powerful search engine covering power plants worldwide – including both installed and planned capacities for renewables and fossil fuels.