Belgium poised to delay 2025 nuclear power exit

General view of the Tihange Nuclear Power Station is seen after the Belgian government agreed in principle to close its two nuclear power plants by 2025, in Tihange, Belgium, December 23, 2021. REUTERS/Johanna Geron

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium may extend the life of its nuclear sector, deferring an exit planned for 2025 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine forced a rethink by the governing coalition.

Energy minister Tinne Van der Straeten presented a note to core cabinet members on Wednesday, which broadcaster RTBF said referred to a bill to be approved by the end of March extending the lives of the two newest reactors by up to 10 years.

An energy ministry spokesperson said on Thursday that Van der Straeten had spelt out options in her note and that no decision was imminent.

The minister is expected to set out on Friday a plan to reduce Belgium's reliance on fossil fuels, notably from Russia, with an increase of offshore wind parks, more solar panels and a reduction of gas and oil heating by 2026.

Belgium's nuclear switch-off had initially relied on a shift to natural gas, including a gas-fired plant to be built just north of Brussels, although permission was not certain.

The government at the end of 2021 gave itself until mid-March to see if the permit was granted and, if not, consider other options.

The two reactors whose lives could be extended are the 1,038 megawatt reactor at the Tihange plant in eastern Belgium and the 1,039 MW reactor at the Doel plant near Antwerp. Together, they make up 35% of the country's nuclear energy capacity.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, editing by Marine Strauss and Barbara Lewis)