Belgium’s shift from nuclear under fire as gas price surge strains Europe
While EU officials have argued in Brussels this month over the relative merits of nuclear energy and gas, residents of a small town 60km east of the Belgian capital had a more pressing concern: if Belgium gets rid of nuclear power, where will it get its gas from?
“Everyone around us is stopping gas. Where are we going to get ours from? Putin? What will we do if he switches the tap off?” said Heidi Haesevoets at a protest this month against a planned gas-fired power plant in her home town of Tessenderlo.
Belgium, sandwiched between pro-nuclear France and pro-gas Germany, epitomises one of the problems the EU faces in its energy supply as it moves towards a carbon-neutral future.
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The move has attracted criticism from the regional government in Flanders, Belgium’s northern and more industrialised region, and from an unusual alliance of pro-nuclear and climate activists.
“We have gas prices already going up and on top of that, taxpayers would have to pay for more gas plants — it makes absolutely no sense,” said Haesevoets.
Belgium’s seven nuclear reactors, which generate half of the country’s electricity, are set to come offline by 2025 under a commitment enshrined in the national government’s coalition agreement. The government has also approved a multibillion-euro subsidy scheme to build and run gas-fired power plants, which would fill the energy gap.
This puts the country in stark contrast with neighbouring France, which is going to step up the use of carbon-free nuclear energy, and the Netherlands, which is moving away from gas-powered plants. The Dutch government is also shutting down Europe’s largest natural gasfield, which was supplying almost half of Belgium’s gas imports.
ft.com
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