Belgian Nuclear Phaseout Will Increase Country’s GHG Emissions

Belgium’s planned nuclear phaseout by 2025 is expected to increase the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and energy importsa report by the Federal Planning Bureau (FPB) found.

The report said nuclear power is expected to supply 35% of Belgium’s electricity in 2023, but warned that the share would plunge to zero at the start of 2026, resulting in increased gas generation and a ‘systematic increase’ in emissions.

As a result, natural gas power generation will compensate for the loss of nuclear power with its share estimated to increase from 19% in 2021 to 28% in 2023 and to 56% by the end of 2025.

Renewables are expected to supply 30% of electricity in 2026, up from 26% in 2021.

Estimates showed that energy-related emissions in 2020 were 78.2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, while projections for 2026 were 94.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

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