A rant on Belgian media on hyping solar energy
I'm really annoyed with media ... again. This time about the halleluja stories on solar energy 'beating' or 'matching' nuclear in Belgium. One English language example was in the Brussels Times [1].
If you scroll down the picture becomes more nuanced: Belgium has recently closed the fifth out of its seven reactors, for no good reason besides complying with a nuclear phase out law that has already been repealed and an owner that *really* wants to sell fossil gas as that is where the money is.
Furthermore, Belgium is importing more and more electricity, ever since it started to close their nuclear fleet in 2022. If we take 2021 as index year, the numbers are as follows[2]:
2021: 7.6 TWh net export
2022: 5.8 TWh net export
2023: 3.2 TWh net import
2024: 10.7 TWh net import
2025: 14 TWh net import
This is a similar pattern we see with Germany, which also aims big on solar and wind without clean dispatchable power. Renewabros will argue that this isn't a big issue, as the whole European grid is interconnected, but if everyone is going to net import, this *will* become a problem.
Of course, this leads to higher electricity prices and industry is already compaining that it pays double the amount as French industry does [3]. Sweet irony hits reality again as French nuclear saves the day... For French industry anyway.
But how many people will read past the headline and cheer because solar has presumably 'won'? Ugh.
[1] https://www.brusselstimes.com/1895598/belgian-renewable-energy-production-matches-its-nuclear-power-plants
[2] https://www.energy-charts.info/charts/import_export_map/chart.htm?l=en&c=BE&interval=year&year=2021
[3] https://trends.knack.be/nieuws/macro-economie-beleid/elektriciteit-is-in-belgie-ruim-de-helft-duurder-dan-in-frankrijk/
Emil Jacobs - Collectifission
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2025-12-29 15:58:58 CET
Author Public Key
npub1pnwtdswlpw9faumzkgtxdpf2xq7kses2r6ycm73hkht92v090mcqf8qhczPublished at
2025-12-29 15:58:58 CETEvent JSON
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"content": "A rant on Belgian media on hyping solar energy\n\nI'm really annoyed with media ... again. This time about the halleluja stories on solar energy 'beating' or 'matching' nuclear in Belgium. One English language example was in the Brussels Times [1].\n\nIf you scroll down the picture becomes more nuanced: Belgium has recently closed the fifth out of its seven reactors, for no good reason besides complying with a nuclear phase out law that has already been repealed and an owner that *really* wants to sell fossil gas as that is where the money is.\n\nFurthermore, Belgium is importing more and more electricity, ever since it started to close their nuclear fleet in 2022. If we take 2021 as index year, the numbers are as follows[2]:\n\n2021: 7.6 TWh net export\n2022: 5.8 TWh net export\n2023: 3.2 TWh net import\n2024: 10.7 TWh net import\n2025: 14 TWh net import\n\nThis is a similar pattern we see with Germany, which also aims big on solar and wind without clean dispatchable power. Renewabros will argue that this isn't a big issue, as the whole European grid is interconnected, but if everyone is going to net import, this *will* become a problem.\n\nOf course, this leads to higher electricity prices and industry is already compaining that it pays double the amount as French industry does [3]. Sweet irony hits reality again as French nuclear saves the day... For French industry anyway.\n\nBut how many people will read past the headline and cheer because solar has presumably 'won'? Ugh.\n\n[1] https://www.brusselstimes.com/1895598/belgian-renewable-energy-production-matches-its-nuclear-power-plants\n[2] https://www.energy-charts.info/charts/import_export_map/chart.htm?l=en\u0026c=BE\u0026interval=year\u0026year=2021\n[3] https://trends.knack.be/nieuws/macro-economie-beleid/elektriciteit-is-in-belgie-ruim-de-helft-duurder-dan-in-frankrijk/",
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