Belgium’s nuclear plants worked well last year, supplying the country with energy over 90% of the time in 2021, with only two short, unplanned stoppages, Le Soir reported on Saturday.
Based on data published by Belgium’s energy utility, Engie, on the Nord Pool Internet site, Le Soir calculated that the country’s seven reactors were fully available 93% of the year, Belga news agency reports. Contacted by Le Soir, Engie gave a slightly lower figure, indicating that the average availability of its plants was 91.8%.
After being almost entirely dormant in 2020, Tihange 1 recorded the best performance in 2021, with 99% availability. The reactor was impacted only by tiny variations of power, and continued producing throughout the year, with no stoppages.
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The same goes for Tihange 3, which also registered 99% availability, with no production breaks.
Doel 1 achieved 91% availability, followed by Doel 3 (89.5%), Doel 2 (89.1%), Doel 4 (87.4%) and Tihange 2 (85.8%).