TIHANGE 3 is a 2,098 MW nuclear power station in Wallonia, Belgium. It is operated by Engie (Electrabel / BE-NUC). Based on reported annual generation of 17,896 GWh, it can supply roughly 5.1 million homes. It ranks #2 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 WRI1002277.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM tracker 2026 operating-unit sum (location L100000500099); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
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 50.5°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 31% 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: 69/100 — this site sits in the top 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 mild atmospheric environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C2 — Low), 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 #2 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 50.5342, 5.2751 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
TIHANGE 3 is a 2,098 MW source-record nuclear power plant in Wallonia, Belgium, commissioned in 1985.
TIHANGE 3 generates about 17,896 GWh of electricity per year.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 5,113,085 homes.
TIHANGE 3 is operated by Engie (Electrabel / BE-NUC).
