Hungary and Romania face increasing reliance on power imports during a heatwave as a lack of water supplies disrupt power generation.
Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant could be shut for weeks, the prime minister said on Friday, while Romania declares a state of emergency due low water levels on the Danube cut power output.
Peak evening electricity demand in Hungary is expected to rise by 20 per cent, prompting the government to ask major industrial users to curb consumption.
Romania’s Prime Minister, Ilie Bolojan, said the country would seek to import more electricity from Ukraine, Greece and Bulgaria.
“I have declared a state of alert on a national level throughout August as a result of the drop in electricity production because of drought and low river volumes, especially the Danube,” Bolojan said.
Romanian nuclear power producer Nuclearelectrica has shut down one of its reactors. Meanwhile, Paks’ four Russian-made reactors are operating at less than 50 per cent of their combined 2 gigawatts capacity and are expected to be shut down completely on Tuesday or Wednesday for the first time in 44 years as water levels are forecast to fall further.
As water from the Danube is used to cool the facility, the reactors can be restarted once water levels recover sufficiently for safe operation, “But this is not expected to happen in the coming weeks,” Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said during a briefing at energy company MOL’s Danube refinery in Szazhalombatta.
To ease pressure on the power grid, Magyar asked major industry companies, including carmakers and battery manufacturers, to reduce electricity and water consumption.
He said that MOL, one of Hungary’s biggest electricity consumers, was cutting its usage by 40 per cent. Samsung SDI said that its battery plant north of Budapest was cutting water consumption by 50 per cent and reducing electricity use by 10 per cent during critical evening hours.
Bolojan said Romania imports 1,700 MW to cover peak consumption in the evening at an overall daily consumption of 7,000 MW.
Later on Friday, Magyar said that Hungary will develop 4 gigawatts of wind energy capacity by 2030 using European Union funds as well as private capital, to diversify its energy sources.
“European Union funds will create the opportunity to develop Hungary’s entire energy network and the much more widespread use of wind energy will be part of this,” Magyar said at a briefing at the Paks nuclear plant.
European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told Reuters the Commission was closely monitoring the electricity supply situation in Romania, Hungary and the wider southeast European region.
There is no immediate security-of-supply concern and the Commission is ready to convene an ad hoc meeting of the European Union’s Electricity Coordination Group if needed, she said.
