Almost half of the power generated in Belgium came from nuclear plants in 2019, a year that also saw the country export more electricity than it imported, statistics from Elia, Belgium’s electricity transmission system operator, have shown.

The country’s fleet of seven commercial plants – three at Tihange near Liège and four at Doel near Antwerp – generated 48.8% of electricity, a figure that was in line with the 50% total for 2017, but significantly higher than the 31.2% generated in 2018 (31.2%), a year marked by the “significant unavailability” of several reactors.

Doel-3 was shut down for checks on its reactor pressure vessel and Tihange-2 for work to resolve concrete degradation and stability issues in a bunkerised building that houses backup safety systems.