In 2003, the government of Belgium had decided to phase out nuclear power. With the so-called Nuclear Renaissance, however, by 2009 there were plans to extend the running times of the nuclear power plants by ten years.
Then came the Fukushima disaster, public opinion shifted strongly against nuclear power, and Belgium is now set to phase out nuclear power by the year 2025, 3 years after the scheduled complete phase-out of nukes in Germany.
From Reuters:
Belgium agrees conditional nuclear exit plans
By Robert-Jan Bartunek
BRUSSELS | Mon Oct 31, 2011 6:03am EDT
(Reuters) - Belgium's political parties have reached a conditional agreement to shut down the country's two remaining nuclear power stations, owned by GDF-Suez unit Electrabel, a government spokeswoman said on Monday.
The plan for a shut-down of the three oldest reactors by 2015 and a complete exit by 2025 is conditional on finding enough energy from alternative sources to prevent any shortages.
http://www.reuters.com/...
The Reuters article goes on to express "concern" about the intermittency of renewables, ignoring the fact that the planned North Sea Supergrid will be providing virtual baseload power:
Sun, wind and wave-powered: Europe unites to build renewable energy 'supergrid'
• North Sea countries plan vast clean energy project
• €30bn scheme could offer weather-proof supply
Alok Jha
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 3 January 2010 22.30 GMT
t would connect turbines off the wind-lashed north coast of Scotland with Germany's vast arrays of solar panels, and join the power of waves crashing on to the Belgian and Danish coasts with the hydro-electric dams nestled in Norway's fjords: Europe's first electricity grid dedicated to renewable power will become a political reality this month, as nine countries formally draw up plans to link their clean energy projects around the North Sea.
snip
Connected to Norway's many hydro-electric power stations, it could act as a giant 30GW battery for Europe's clean energy, storing electricity when demand is low and be a major step towards a continent-wide supergrid that could link into the vast potential of solar power farms in North Africa.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
There is some concern about the price of electricity, with nuclear being phased out. That concern, however, also is overblown, since wind power is less expensive than new nuclear:
Offshore Wind Energy Cheaper than Nuclear Energy, EU Climate Chief Says
MARCH 18, 2011 BY ZACHARY SHAHAN
Source: Clean Technica (http://s.tt/...)
Offshore Wind Energy is Very, Very Cheap — Cheaper than Nuclear
You often see people claiming that nuclear energy is so cheap — (I always wonder if their figures are based on what nuclear energy projects are projected to cost or the actual cost of such projects, which often ends up beings several times higher). Of course, not even taking the great risk posed by nuclear power plants into account, wind power costs have been dropping in recent years and, as Hedegaard (referring to offshore wind energy, in particular) contends, “People should believe that this is very, very cheap.”
“Some people tend to believe that nuclear is very, very cheap, but offshore wind is cheaper than nuclear,” Hedegaard says.
http://cleantechnica.com/...
While the concern about the intermittency and price of renewables is overblown, Belgians will have their work cut out for them in replacing the 50% of their electricity that is produced by nuclear power plants with renewables. Belgium is a small, densely populated, highly industrialized country. While they have excellent offshore wind resources and are one of the lead countries in regards to offshore wind electricity production, their coastline is quite small, and they will have to utilize both their offshore and onshore wind resources efficiently in order to replace the electricity generated by the seven nuclear reactors that are currently running.
Official govt. estimates for the potential of Belgian offshore power are at about 18 TwH/year, which would cover 25% of Belgian electricity needs. With technological advances over the next 15 years, my educated guess would be that the combination of offshore and onshore wind power could replace their nuclear power completely, with the addition of solar and biomass power cutting into their use of fossil fuels. In order to attain the European goal of 80% or more renewable power by 2050, Belgium will have to efficiently and intelligently maximize the use of wind, solar, biomass, and the newer forms of renewable energy, such as wind and wave power, while continually increasing conservation and efficiency efforts.
One thing is becoming increasingly clear, as Belgium joins Germany, Greece, Denmark, and Austria in their stated quest for a nuclear free Europe:
in the post-Fukushima world, the will of the people is driving European nations towards a massive revolution in energy production, with the primary focus being on the implementation of renewable energy technology. This will likely lead to a huge burst of innovation that will not only drive the implementation of renewables in Europe, but also throughout the world.
The Vox Populi is increasingly being heard on European energy matters.
And that's a good thing.