The Belgian government and the French energy group Engie have signed a final agreement for a 10-year lifetime extension of the Tihange 3 and Doel 4 nuclear reactors and all the obligations related to nuclear waste. Both nuclear reactors are equally owned by Engie and the Belgian state.
The agreement confirms and endorses the framework agreement signed by both parties in July 2023, where it was determined the implementation of a Flexible Long-Term Operation (Flex LTO) through an estimated investment of between €1.6bn and €2bn. It also sets up a contract for difference (CfD) mechanism covering remuneration for electricity generation, the determination of a fixed amount to cover the future costs related to the treatment of nuclear waste (concerning all ENGIE nuclear facilities in Belgium) for a total of €15bn, the removal of restrictions on Electrabel’s (Engie's subsidiary) non-European assets, and the technical and operational conditions for restarting the two units with full guarantees of nuclear safety by November 2025. The strike price from the CfD will be based on the actual cost of extending operation of the nuclear units, with an initial price being set in 2025 and updated in 2028 to reflect the known final cost of the extension, to cover the period up to 2035.
At the end of 2022, nuclear accounted for 21% of Belgium’s installed capacity with 5.9 GW and 46% of its power generation. Belgium has a total of 7 reactors (4 in Doel and 3 in Tihange), two of which were permanently shut down in September 2022 (Doel 3) and January 2023 (Tihange 2).
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