Electricity price in Belgium today
The spot price of electricity hour by hour in BE (BE), Friday, 23 October 2026.
Belgium is a single bidding zone wedged between France, the Netherlands and Germany, and its wholesale price usually moves in step with theirs. Nuclear power was long the backbone, but the fleet shrank sharply between 2022 and 2025, leaving gas plants, North Sea wind and imports to fill the gap.
What a household pays also depends on where it lives. Network tariffs are set region by region, so Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels each have their own. On the federal side, homes have paid VAT at 6% on electricity as a permanent rule since April 2023, and the excise on household electricity was lowered in August 2026.
Today electricity costs 12.4 c/kWh in BE (BE) on average.
LiveSource: Bundesnetzagentur | SMARD.de
Hour by hour
The three cheapest hours in a row are 12–15 (average 8.8 c/kWh). The dearest hour is 08–09.
Show every hour as a table
| Hour | Spot price (c/kWh) | With 6% VAT | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00–01 | 16.5 | 17.5 | Dear |
| 01–02 | 15.0 | 15.9 | Dear |
| 02–03 | 12.7 | 13.5 | Middle |
| 03–04 | 11.8 | 12.5 | Middle |
| 04–05 | 11.3 | 12.0 | Middle |
| 05–06 | 12.1 | 12.8 | Middle |
| 06–07 | 14.2 | 15.1 | Dear |
| 07–08 | 17.4 | 18.5 | Dear |
| 08–09 | 20.4 | 21.6 | Dear |
| 09–10 | 17.7 | 18.8 | Dear |
| 10–11 | 13.5 | 14.4 | Middle |
| 11–12 | 10.2 | 10.9 | Cheap |
| 12–13 | 8.7 | 9.2 | Cheap |
| 13–14 | 8.3 | 8.7 | Cheap |
| 14–15 | 9.5 | 10.0 | Cheap |
| 15–16 | 9.6 | 10.2 | Cheap |
| 16–17 | 10.3 | 10.9 | Cheap |
| 17–18 | 12.0 | 12.7 | Middle |
| 18–19 | 14.0 | 14.8 | Dear |
| 19–20 | 14.5 | 15.4 | Dear |
| 20–21 | 11.9 | 12.6 | Middle |
| 21–22 | 9.7 | 10.3 | Cheap |
| 22–23 | 9.7 | 10.3 | Cheap |
| 23–00 | 7.6 | 8.1 | Cheap |
The spot price is the exchange price, the average of the hour's four quarter-hour prices, before taxes, network tariffs and VAT.
Where does the electricity in Belgium come from?
Gross electricity generation in 2024 by energy source. Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_peh).
Household price since 2023
Average price per kWh, all-in, for a household using 2,500–5,000 kWh a year. Source: Eurostat (nrg_pc_204).
A household in Belgium using 2,500–5,000 kWh a year paid 35.8 c/kWh on average, all-in, in H1 2026, the same as a year before (Eurostat).
Eurostat's figure for each half-year, with taxes, levies, network costs and VAT. Updated twice a year.
How the electricity price works in Belgium
One market price, four regulators
Belgium's day-ahead price is set every day in the European market coupling, and the transmission system operator Elia runs the high-voltage grid. There is no regulated retail price for ordinary households: suppliers sell fixed contracts, variable contracts indexed to wholesale prices, and dynamic contracts that follow the market hour by hour. Oversight is split. The federal regulator CREG covers transmission and calculates the social tariff, while VREG in Flanders, CWaPE in Wallonia and BRUGEL in Brussels approve the distribution tariffs.
Special excise, regional network charges and 6% VAT
A Belgian bill has three blocks: the energy itself, network costs for distribution and transmission, and taxes and levies. Distribution is the biggest network item and is charged by the regional operator, for example Fluvius in Flanders, ORES or RESA in Wallonia and Sibelga in Brussels. The federal special excise for households is 4.6 c€/kWh excluding VAT from 1 August 2026, down from 4.748 c€, and the federal energy contribution was set to zero on the same date. Regional public-service levies come on top, and VAT for homes is 6%.
Gas at the margin, wind from the sea
For many hours of the year a gas-fired plant is the most expensive unit needed to meet demand, so the European gas price feeds straight into Belgian electricity. Offshore wind pushes the other way: on stormy days the North Sea parks can drive prices down sharply, and sunny afternoons do the same through the rooftop panels that are common in Flanders. With cables to every neighbour, Belgium imports when its own plants fall short and exports when there is power to spare. The loss of nuclear capacity has made it more dependent on that trade and on gas.
From a nuclear backbone to a mixed system
Nuclear power from Doel near Antwerp and Tihange near Liège was still the largest source in 2024. A 2003 law foresaw a full phase-out, and five of the seven reactors closed between 2022 and 2025. In 2025 parliament repealed that law, and the two newest reactors, Doel 4 and Tihange 3, have had their operation extended by ten years. Gas plants, onshore and offshore wind and solar supply most of the rest. Belgium stopped burning coal for power in 2016.
On Europe's north–south power corridor
Belgium lies on the main axis between the nuclear south and the gas, wind and solar of the north. France is a large exporter whose low-carbon output often pulls the Belgian price down, while the Netherlands lean on gas plants and an exceptional amount of solar. The ALEGrO cable, opened in 2020, connects Belgium directly with Germany, and Nemo Link runs under the North Sea to Great Britain. Because the four markets are tightly coupled, the Belgian price is often identical to one of its neighbours' for hours at a time.
Belgium compared with its neighbours
In 2024, nuclear made 41%, gas made 19% and wind made 18% of the electricity generated in Belgium. Wind, solar, hydro, nuclear and bioenergy together made 75% of generation in Belgium.
Gross electricity generation in 2024 by energy source. Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_peh). Pumped hydro is left out.
Voltly: your own electricity price in Belgium
Voltly shows the hourly prices in BE (BE) with taxes, network tariff and VAT, so you see what the hour really costs.
Hourly prices for your bidding zone, all-in, the cheapest hours and the price on your lock screen.
Questions about the electricity price in Belgium
- What does electricity cost in Belgium today?
- In BE (BE) the spot price averages 12.4 c/kWh today. It is cheapest at 23–00 with 7.6 c/kWh and dearest at 08–09 with 20.4 c/kWh. Network tariffs, taxes and VAT come on top.
- What does an ordinary household in Belgium pay for electricity?
- A household in Belgium using 2,500–5,000 kWh a year paid 35.8 c/kWh per kWh on average, all-in, in H1 2026, according to Eurostat. The price varies with the network company and the contract.
- How much of the electricity in Belgium comes from nuclear?
- 41% of the electricity generated in Belgium came from nuclear in 2024 (Eurostat), the largest single source.
- Why do network costs differ between Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels?
- Distribution grids are a regional matter. Each region has its own regulator and its own grid operators, and their tariffs reflect local costs such as population density, the age of the network and planned investment. Two households with the same consumption and the same supplier can therefore pay noticeably different network charges depending on the municipality they live in.
- What is the capacity tariff in Flanders?
- Since 1 January 2023, part of the distribution charge in Flanders depends on the household's highest quarter-hour power demand each month, measured by the digital meter, rather than on kWh alone. Running the oven, a heat pump and an electric car charger at the same moment raises the peak and the bill; spreading them out lowers it. A minimum peak applies to every connection.
- Are Belgium's nuclear plants still running?
- Two of the seven reactors are: Doel 4 and Tihange 3, whose operation was extended by ten years. The other five closed between 2022 and 2025 under the 2003 phase-out law. Parliament repealed that law in 2025, which in principle opens the door to new nuclear projects, but the closed units have not restarted.