Belgian power utilities Electrabel and SPE will continue to receive grants from their national government compensating them for having to help pay for dismantling installations at the Mol-Dessel experimental nuclear site, even though the country’s electricity system has been liberalised. The European Commission has ruled that the companies had an ongoing commitment to meet these responsibilities that stemmed from the time when Belgium had a controlled electricity market.
As a result, it means that the operators are still able to receive state aid for these commitments, which would not normally be legal.
