Following a trial run on Friday evening, the Dunamenti Power Plant is expected to operate at full capacity from Saturday, while the Paks nuclear power plant is currently running at close to half of its nominal output. Due to falling water levels caused by continuing heat and drought, further production cutbacks and a temporary complete shutdown of the nuclear power plant will be necessary in the coming days. Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced on Friday that Hungary is facing an energy crisis of unprecedented difficulty and complexity.
At a press conference held at Mol’s Duna Refinery in Százhalombatta, the Prime Minister outlined that the Paks nuclear power plant is operating at a reduced output of approximately 940 megawatts — compared to its nominal 2,000 megawatts — due to the Danube reaching a record low water level. Péter Magyar stated that the water level had dropped to -124 centimetres by Friday, and that at -134 centimetres the plant must be shut down for safety reasons. The head of government warned that expert forecasts indicate the water level could fall as low as -144 centimetres, and stressed that no rise is expected in the short term.
He said that in the critical situation very little power plant capacity is available in Hungary, and that following the loss of output from the Paks nuclear power plant, the country would rely primarily on solar power plants, a few gas-fired power plants, and imports.
The production shortfall from Paks would be offset by increasing import capacity, with imports potentially rising from 3,600–3,800 megawatts to as much as 4,500–5,000 megawatts. The country imports electricity from all of its neighbouring countries.
Péter Magyar called it disinformation that Hungary could face difficulties because it exports electricity to Ukraine, and said it was also false that the utility cost reduction scheme was under threat. He noted that it cannot be entirely ruled out that residential electricity restrictions may be necessary; however, they are doing everything possible to avoid prolonged, widespread outages.
He asked Foreign Minister Anita Orbán to contact Austria, Slovakia, and Germany in order to review the water retention practices of hydroelectric power plants operating on the upper section of the Danube.
The Prime Minister also stated that the restart of a block at the Dunamenti Power Plant, which was shut down due to a technical fault, could begin on Friday, with the facility potentially operating at full capacity from Saturday. At Hungary’s second largest gas-fired power plant, output had to be reduced by 380 megawatts on Wednesday evening.
The Prime Minister also touched on the fact that some large consumers had already responded to the request to voluntarily limit their energy consumption — for example, Mol, one of Hungary’s largest industrial consumers, committed to reducing its electricity use by 65 megawatts, approximately 40 percent, during the critical period. He added that further large consumers would also be asked to introduce voluntary restrictions, and indicated that a legislative basis would soon be in place to allow entire plants to be shut down if necessary in order to maintain the balance of the system.
He also noted that electricity consumption had come in 151 megawatts below the peak load expected for the previous day, owing to the voluntary restrictions by companies and the public. The critical period remains between 17:00 and 22:00, with network load at its highest between 18:00 and 21:00.
Artificial intelligence was used for the translation of parts of the original Hungarian text.
