Belgium has solutions for power shortages, says energy minister

Outgoing federal energy minister Johan Vande Lanotte has refuted reports that the country risks power cuts this winter due to the closure of two nuclear power stations. In an interview on Radio 1, the minister said that there were “adequate solutions” to deal with the problem and that there was no need to panic.

Some analysts have been warning that the country risks brownouts or even blackouts this winter due to serious problems affecting the nuclear power stations Doel 3 in East Flanders and Tihange 2 in Liége province. Yesterday, Limburg governor Herman Reynders told mayors in his province that half of their municipalities could temporarily be cut off from power supplies in controlled brownouts this winter.

But Vande Lanotte (pictured) argued that the problem can be solved by introducing emergency generators and encouraging industry to adapt its energy consumption patterns. “In other countries, there are many cases of companies adapting their energy use according to the circumstances,” he said. “Some companies even incorporate this into their business plans.”

The minister added that the country could import energy supplies from abroad without this necessarily leading to higher fuel bills for consumers. “Energy in the Netherlands is no more expensive than our own,” he said.

Vande Lanotte went on to say that there was currently an oversupply of energy in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. “There is a 1,300 megawatt Dutch gas-fired power station lying idle just three kilometres from our border. All we need to do is to lay a cable to connect it to our national grid.”

The energy company Essent.be, which operates the power station in Maasbracht, confirmed yesterday that it was “technically feasible” to connect the power station to the Belgian grid. “The biggest problem would be getting a permit,” a spokesperson said.