Belgium’s nuclear power plant produced 48% of total electricity in 2018, according to the Brussels-based Belgian Nuclear Forum. Fossil fuels accounted for 40%, wind for 7% and solar energy for 5%.

However, maintenance outages and unplanned shutdowns meant that the nuclear share decreased compared with previous years. The nuclear share in 2017 was around 49.8%.

Belgium’s seven power reactors – three at Tihange nuclear plant near Liege and four at Doel near Antwerp – produced 27.3TWh of electricity in 2018.  Six of the seven units were closed in 2018 for maintenance. Three nuclear plants remain offline. Tihange 2 is still closed because of concrete degradation issues and Doel 1&2 are offline following a leak at Doel 1. Tihange 1, Tihange 3, Doel 3 and Doel 4 are operating.

Photo Credit: Belgium Flag by fdecomite is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.