Electrabel will have to pay 2013 nuclear tax (Belgium)

For the second time, the Constitutional Court of Belgium has rejected an appeal lodged by Electrabel (part of the ENGIE (ex-GDF SUEZ) group) against the legality of the nuclear tax contribution imposed by the Belgian government for the year 2013.

In 2008, Belgium introduced a nuclear tax (one-off payment of €250m) that was set at €215-245m in 2009 over the 2010-2014 period. In 2012, the government decided to raise the contribution from nuclear operators to €550m, including €479m from Electrabel and €70m from EDF. The companies appealed this decision on the 2012 tax level, which was upheld by the Constitutional Court in July 2014. Electrabel lodged a second appeal for the 2013 tax contribution, considering this tax as confiscatory and claiming that the 2013 contribution (€422m) is even higher than the entire operating result of all Electrabel’s operational activities in Belgium. However, the Court has just ruled that the payment of the tax is legitimate, rejecting Electrabel's appeal.

In July 2015, the company reached an agreement with the Belgian government on the conditions for a 10-year extension of the operation of the Doel-1 and 2 nuclear power plants in Belgium. The agreement includes the amount of the new nuclear contribution system, which will affect the Doel 3, Doel 4, Tihange 2 and Tihange 3 reactors: Electrabel will have to pay a fixed amount of €200m in 2015 and a fixed amount of €130m in 2016 (the €20m due for the Doel 1-and Doel 2 extension will be added and will be payable from 2016 to 2025). From 2017, the Belgian state will revise the contribution according to an objective formula taking account of changing costs, production volumes and electricity prices. The margin applied will be 40%.