© MARC HERREMANS – MEDIA HOUSE
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In an open letter, more than a hundred Flemish entrepreneurs point the finger at the various governments of our country if energy shortages threaten in 2025 after the nuclear phase-out. They demand that operator Electrabel be obliged to keep the nuclear power stations open longer.
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jvhSource: BELGIAN
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The direct reason for the open letter – titled ‘The lamp will no longer burn’ – is the final line that Engie has drawn itself this week by extending two nuclear power plants. The more than a hundred entrepreneurs who signed the open letter fear that in 2025, after the nuclear phase-out, the lights will no longer remain on. “The lamp will no longer burn in 2025, after the nuclear phase-out. That conviction is getting louder and louder,” it sounds.
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The letter lashes out at this government and the previous governments. Due to “the political dawdling of the last 20 years”, our country is not ready for the energy transition. Security of supply cannot be guaranteed, the signatories fear. “The current government, and by extension all previous ones, bear a crushing responsibility here.”
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Entrepreneurs are very concerned about security of supply and are demanding measures. For example, Engie must be obliged to extend the lifespan of the youngest 2 nuclear power plants by at least 10 years.
The open letter is an initiative of the chairman of Voka West Flanders Philippe De Veyt and Unilin CEO Bernard Thiers and is intended to denounce “the hallucinatory situation in which politicians treat the energy supply in Belgium lightly and irresponsibly”. A total of 129 CEOs signed the letter. Among the signatories are well-known names such as the CEOs of TVH, Vandewiele, Jules Destrooper or Ardo.
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