Belgium should adopt a national long-term energy
strategy without delay
, the
International Energy Agency (IEA) said today, stressing that such a plan was
required to respond to the challenge of
decarbonising the economy while ensuring security of supply
and affordability of energy.
Speaking at the launch of an IEA review of Belgium’s energy
policies, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol encouraged Belgium’s
federal and regional governments to work
decisively together.
"Our review
rings alarm bells due to the lack of private-sector investment in the
electricity sector,” Dr. Birol commented at the launch. "Government efforts to
mobilise investment should include an electricity market design that ensures a
viable business model for power generation. And to avoid a lack of generation
capacity in the medium term, Belgium could consider operating their nuclear
power plants as long as they are certified to be safe by the regulator.”
The new IEA report,
Energy Policies of IEA Countries:
Belgium 2016Review
, acknowledges Belgium’s recent progress in several areas
of energy policy.
Competition has
increased in the electricity and natural gas markets. The use of fossil fuels
has declined and the supply of renewable energy has grown. The country´s
economy is becoming less energy-intensive, and its energy-related carbon
emissions are declining.
A major issue to be addressed,
however, is the country’s nuclear phase-out policy. Nuclear energy accounts for
around half of Belgium’s electricity generation, but the current policy is to
close the nuclear power plants between 2022 and 2025. The report cautions that
this would seriously challenge Belgium’s efforts to ensure electricity security
and provide affordable low-carbon electricity. Allowing the plants to run as
long as they are considered safe by the regulator would ease electricity
security pressures, would reduce the costs
of
electricity
generation in the
medium term,
would
likely reduce the costs of
the phase-out itself and would create time for investments in alternative
generation options. "It is
of the
utmost importance that Belgium’s policy on nuclear power is consistent with its
objectives regarding electricity security and climate change mitigation,” Dr.
Birol stressed.
The report highlights the potential energy efficiency
offers to help Belgium meet its energy policy goals. It welcomes the decision
to implement nationwide road pricing for heavy-duty vehicles. The report also
recommends further support to renovating the building stock and switching away
from oil in space heating. In addition, it suggests abolishing direct and
indirect subsidies on energy use and replacing them with more targeted measures
on citizens and companies in need.
Under any scenario, Belgium’s energy supply needs to be
further diversified and energy demand further limited. Transport and buildings
hold a large potential for efficiency and climate gains, and fiscal incentives
and price signals could be used more frequently in order to reap them.
The IEA Executive Director applauded Belgium for its
excellent gas transport infrastructure and the high level of cross-border
integration of its gas market. Referring to the eventual phase-out of imports
of low-calorific gas from the Netherlands, he encouraged the government to give
a higher priority to this matter, in case production of the Groningen gas field
declines faster than currently expected. Dr. Birol also congratulated Belgium
for holding large emergency stocks of oil.
To download
Energy
Policies of IEA Countries: Belgium 2016 Review, click here.
(
source: www.iea.org)