Added to this is France, which imports quite a lot of electricity, several of its nuclear reactors being under maintenance or shut down.
Next week, the situation is likely to be even more tense. “We expect, especially in the evening, a peak in electricity prices,” says one at Elia, the manager of the high voltage network.
It is possible that Belgium will in turn have to import electrons, especially since Tihange 1 will not restart before December 14 at the earliest. However, there is no question of talking about a problem in sight in terms of security of supply, we are assured at Elia.
For specialist Matthias Detremmerie, broker at energy supplier Elindus, next week could even be the worst of the year, with record prices possible. Some scenarios evoke a price of up to 1,500 euros per MWh during the evening peak.