Belgium, like many countries, is committed to transitioning to net zero emissions and embracing a sustainable energy future. The Belgian government has set ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the share of renewable energy sources in its energy mix.
Belgium aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, meaning that the country's total greenhouse gas emissions will be balanced by removing an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Today’s societal dialogue on decarbonization focuses largely on electricity – which accounts for only 77 TWh out of the total Belgian final energy consumption of 429 TWh – and does not address the most difficult issue, namely industrial decarbonization.
Since the Belgian energy demand exceeds the potential of local renewable energy production (about 132 TWh), the current plan towards net zero is heavily reliant on energy imports, weighing on security of supply and increasing the risks of industrial delocalization.
This document aims to open a reflection on how Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) could transform the Belgian energy landscape by addressing the toughest challenges of the 21st-century energy market, namely flexibility to accommodate intermittent production, a stable and reliable low-carbon baseload profile, the production of hydrogen and high temperature heat and GWh scale storage to facilitate industry decarbonization.
