New European policy
With Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Europe has reviewed is natural gas supply policy. The union's strategic intention is now to reduce Russian energy imports as much as possible and move towards greater energy independence.
- In 2021, almost 45% of Europe's gas supply came from Russia.
- In 2024, this had fallen to just 19%.
Some countries, however, are still heavily dependent on Russian gas, such as Hungary (78% in 2023), Slovakia (64% in 2023) and Greece (44% in 2023).
But what about Belgium?
Belgium: a gas hub
The majority of the gas that we consume in Belgium is imported from Norway, France, the Netherlands, the UK, Russia and Qatar. In 2024, Russian gas accounted for 8,7% of Belgium's consumption.
What's more, our country is at the heart of Europe's gas landscape. Belgium is home to numerous interconnection points with neighbouring markets. We also have a large LNG terminal at Zeebrugge, bringing in gas in liquid form.
We therefore have a diversified supply of natural gas, which allows us to ensure our supply remains secure. The risk of a natural gas shortage is thus relatively low in Belgium.
European solidarity
A number of measures have been put in place at European level to improve security of supply for member countries.
Among other things, these measures enable countries to:
- jointly purchase gas on global markets;
- limit the volatility of gas and electricity prices;
- promote solidarity between Member States in the event of a critical shortage.
Federal contingency plan
In Belgium, the FPS Economy, in collaboration with the CREG, the Federal Crisis Centre and the transport system operator, Fluxys, drew up a contingency plan in September 2022.
In the event that there is an increased risk of an interruption to the gas supply, the Federal Minister for Energy can activate this contingency plan in collaboration with Fluxys. The plan sets out 3 levels of emergency: "early alert", "alert", and "emergency".
1. "Early alert" level
Reliable observations demonstrate an increased risk of a deterioration in the gas supply that could trigger this level of alert or emergency.
2. "Alert" level
If there is an increased risk of a shortage, Fluxys will plan to use operational reserves of gas (reserves in Loenhout) and to purchase gas. And/or a neighbouring country will activate the European solidarity mechanism.
Major Belgian consumers linked to the transport and distribution system (see "Unprotected customers" below) will receive a message stating that they must temporarily reduce their gas consumption if the emergency phase is activated.
3. "Emergency" level
Gas supplies are running low and major consumers may have to temporarily reduce their consumption to a minimum, in particular to protect the supply for protected customers.
