Electricity scarcity in Belgium expected for next winter

08 September 2014

The outlook for a continued unavailability of 50% of the Belgian nuclear park during next winter (Doel 3, Doel 4 and Thihange 2) is the headline in the Belgian media at this moment.

Besides counting on an import of 3000 to 3500 MW and implementation of a strategic reserve plan (using plants declared out of service and demand side response by aggregators), government and municipalities are preparing actively for the rolling black out scenarios according to a repartition in blocks, which has been worked out 2 years ago. The availability of the expected import capacity is a major point of attention in this context.

Elia confirmed this week in a press conference the risk for electricity scarcity during next winter and urged all parties to do the maximum before winter to avoid such situation. An FAQ has been added to the TSOs website and from November on a specific website www.pretpourlhiver.be will give transparent information on the risk for the next 5 days.

A specific balancing tariff of 4500 euro/MWh has been approved by CREG, the Belgian regulator, in order to cope with the balancing responsibility of the suppliers’ portfolio. This balancing tariff will be applied when Elia needs to activate the so called strategic reserve.

Meanwhile some smaller power plants which had been closed recently will be prepared to be available during next winter.