DOEL 4 is a 2,910 MW nuclear power station in Flanders, Belgium. It is operated by Engie (Electrabel / BE-NUC). Based on reported annual generation of 20,680 GWh, it can supply roughly 5.9 million homes. It ranks #1 of 95 Belgium power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1985, it is around 41 years old — long-established. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, nuclear supplies about 33.1% of Belgium's electricity; the national grid averages 150 gCO₂/kWh (72.0% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1002223.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The public capacity above is the current source-record value. A 2026 tracker candidate lists 1,998 MW for Doel nuclear power plant, but it is not used as the public primary value until scope is verified (unit vs operating vs installed/project total).
Capacity claim grade: C_REVIEW_MANUAL - recommended action: manual_review_only - confidence: unknown. This follows a claim-based data model: value + scope + source + confidence, rather than silently overwriting records.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: WRI Global Power Plant Database source-record (legacy); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
Technically it is described as pressurized water reactor. Nuclear plants split uranium to raise steam with no direct CO₂; they run as steady baseload with very high capacity factors and the longest operating lifetimes of any thermal plant.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Engie (Electrabel / BE-NUC).
This nuclear plant uses heat from nuclear fission to raise steam for a turbine-generator. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 51.3°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 10% above the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 55/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #1 largest nuclear power plant of 4 in Belgium by capacity.
Belgium has 4 nuclear power plants in this dataset, together about 5,982 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 51.3254, 4.2597 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
DOEL 4 is a 2,910 MW source-record nuclear power plant in Flanders, Belgium, commissioned in 1985.
DOEL 4 generates about 20,680 GWh of electricity per year.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 5,908,657 homes.
DOEL 4 is operated by Engie (Electrabel / BE-NUC).
