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Firm commitment to nuclear power is something the negotiating Arizona parties already agree on. Formateur Bart De Wever (N-VA) was therefore already going to ask Engie to keep the nuclear plants open longer. Engie clearly has no appetite for that.

In the news: There is already opposition at Engie after it received De Wever's request.

  • After talks with nuclear watchdog FANC, the Arizona parties agreed on the potential of nuclear power. De Wever went to Engie with the message that he wants an extension of Doel 4 and Tihange 3 "anyway." Resigning Minister Tinne Van der Straeten (Green) already agreed to extend the lifetime of those two plants until 2035.
    • Since the extension must be agreed upon for 10 years at a time, that would therefore mean that Doel 4 and Tihange 3 would continue to operate until at least 2045, if De Wever can go through with his plan.
  • However, the formateur's idea immediately collided with a rejection from Engie. The latter already showed its opposition to Van der Straeten's first extension in the past. There it is heard that first that file must be completely completed before there can be a new extension. "Surely we are not going to change the rules of the game before we have Europe's approval," draws De Tijd noted.
  • Engie, which co-owns the nuclear plants, claims to have already made a serious concession. Due to the need for energy sources other than Russian gas, the French company agreed to an extension. But now it notes that "Engie has many investment opportunities." "Nuclear is no longer among them. A higher return will not convince Paris," it claims.
  • The power company's demands for the first extension were already particularly high. Engie got a guaranteed power price for the energy it supplies, which is around 80 euros per megawatt hour. There was also strict regulation on the management of nuclear waste: the deal capped the costs for which Engie itself will pay at 15 billion euros.
  • As far as Engie is concerned, the ball is back in De Wever's court: if he wants an extra extension by force, he will have to come up with his own calculation of the cost. Engie also denounces the high labor costs in Belgium. As a result, "extending Doel 4 and Tihange 3 by ten years would already cost a fortune," more than 2 billion euros.

Older nuclear plants are not an option according to Engie and FANC

To follow: De Wever seems to have few options left.

  • A firm "no" from Engie, it seems. Chances are that any offer from De Wever will be rejected. Engie does still seem to be in favor of building gas power plants, which would make the price of energy less expensive.
  • Extending other, even older power plants is not possible. According to the FANC, it would cost too much to operate these nuclear power plants safely. The safety requirements are therefore stringent: a nuclear power plant must be able to withstand earthquakes and airplane crashes. Engie didn' t see that either.
  • If De Wever wants to stick to his nuclear power plan, he will have to find a new operator. That promises to be a particularly tough task.

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