The Dutch government said on Friday it would build two new nuclear power plants near a town in the southern Netherlands, saying it would reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

The plants near the town of Borssele would be completed by 2035 and produce up to 13 percent of the Netherlands' electricity, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

"By adding nuclear energy to our total energy mix, we'll reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electricity production and make ourselves less dependent on countries where these fossil fuels come from," Rutte said at a weekly press conference.

Energy prices are soaring in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe as Moscow's invasion of Ukraine disrupts the flow of oil and gas from Russia.

Borssele, near the Belgian border, is already the site of the Netherlands' only nuclear power plant still used for electricity generation. It was built in 1973.

Nuclear power has been a controversial topic in the environmentally sensitive Netherlands. But in recent years it has become more acceptable in some quarters as an option to reduce climate-heating carbon emissions.

Rutte said the government had also decided to replenish its gas reserves for winter 2023-24.

"This is because the war in Ukraine and also the current situation on the energy markets could last for some time," Rutte said.

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