The Belgian coalition government has agreed to extend the operating life of the Tihange 3 (1,038 MW) and Doel 4 (1,039 MW) nuclear reactors that are due to stop in 2025 for another 10 years, citing the need to strengthen Belgium's energy independence in a chaotic geopolitical context. The government has also announced €1.1bn in investments to accelerate the development of offshore wind power, hydrogen, solar and sustainable mobility (focusing on rail transport).
In December 2021, the Belgian government agreed, as previously pledged, to close all nuclear power plants by 2025, i.e. Doel (2.9 GW) near Antwerp and Tihange (3 GW) near Liège, but it reserved the right to extend operations on two reactors (Tihange 3 and Doel 4), depending on the level of security of supply. In January 2022, the Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (AFCN) authorised the extension of the operating life of these nuclear reactors if installations are updated. According to the Belgian electricity transmission system operator (TSO) Elia, nuclear accounted for 52% of Belgium's electricity generation in 2021 (compared to 40% in 2020) thanks to the high availability of the nuclear fleet, followed by natural gas (25%, compared to 35% in 2020), wind (12%, including 7% offshore) and solar (5%).
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