Romania Loses Its Nuclear Power

Romania's only nuclear power station stopped producing electricity on 13 August. Cernavoda Unit 2, the last reactor still on the grid, was shut down that morning after the Danube fell below the level needed to cool the plant safely (ABC News/AP, Digi24). Unit 1 had already been taken offline on 28 July for the same reason. Between them, the two reactors normally supplied about 1.4 GW of constant electricity, roughly a fifth of Romania's power demand (Agerpres, Reuters via Global Banking & Finance). That contribution is now gone.

The reason is physical, not political. A nuclear reactor produces heat to make steam, and it needs large volumes of water to remove that heat safely. If the river falls too low, the operator cannot guarantee enough water at the intake. The reactors have not been damaged, but they cannot keep running. Bucharest spent more than €2 million on emergency works in the river, including dredging and sinking barges to push more flow towards the plant's intake (Al Jazeera, Firstpost). It still was not enough. At Baziaș, the Danube's flow was forecast at around 1,400 cubic metres per second through 17 August, about a third of the August average (Agerpres).

After Sunset, The Squeeze

The pressure comes in the evening. Solar panels can cover part of Romania's daytime shortfall, but after sunset, air conditioning and household demand remain high while solar generation disappears. That is when Romania has to import. The Energy Ministry said evening import needs could reach 2,300 MW, while cross-border transmission capacity is about 4,000 MW (Digi24). Transmission capacity is only the size of the pipe. It does not mean neighbouring countries have spare electricity to sell at 9pm.

The strain was visible before the full shutdown. On 5 August, Romania's evening demand reached 7,675 MW, while domestic generation produced 5,321 MW. Imports covered almost 31% of consumption, and next-day wholesale power prices had risen 48% to about €178 per megawatt-hour (Brussels Signal). If the gap widens, Romania's contingency plan allows grid operator Transelectrica to cut supply to large industrial users by 10–30% and halt exports (Balkan Green Energy News).

Same River, Same Problem, Shared Bill

Hungary's Paks nuclear plant sits on the same Danube and ran into the same constraint. On 7 August, Paks was generating around 230 MW from its 2,000 MW capacity (HVG, kormany.hu). Nearly 1,770 MW of steady Hungarian output was missing at the same time as Romania was losing its own nuclear supply.

The bill appeared quickly. Hungary's daily net import cost rose from about 0.6 billion forints in late July to almost 4 billion forints by early August, because it was buying much of its electricity during expensive evening hours, when prices were above €200/MWh (Telex/G7, Portfolio). These are wholesale prices, paid by utilities and large buyers in power markets. They do not hit household bills immediately, but they raise supplier costs, and those costs tend to move through the system.

Both Romania and Hungary were trying to buy evening power from a region with less spare supply than usual.

Who Gains, Who Pays

Bulgaria was the clearest short-term winner. Its Kozloduy nuclear plant uses spray ponds and backup wells for cooling, giving it stored water when the Danube falls. That made it more resilient. Energy Minister Iva Petrova said Bulgaria was exporting 32,000–33,000 MWh per day, with about 1,355 MW flowing towards Romania on 7 August (Club Z, economic.bg). Bulgarian wholesale prices climbed to €150–170/MWh, from €100–120/MWh a week earlier (Mediapool). Sofia was selling into a shortage and charging accordingly. But Kozloduy's cushion is not open-ended: Bulgarian officials said the plant could keep operating for roughly another week and a half at current water levels (BTA).

The losers are Romanian and Hungarian industrial users facing possible cuts, electricity buyers paying two or three times normal summer wholesale rates, and taxpayers who funded emergency river works that delayed the shutdowns but did not prevent them. Romania's grid is not about to collapse. It remains stable if wind generation holds, hydro can keep producing within tighter limits, neighbours have power to sell, and evening demand stays under control. That is the calculation in Bucharest while the Danube keeps falling.