Cernavoda shutdown poses immediate problems for Moldova, which relies on Romanian power to cover its own electricity shortages
Romania has been forced to shut down the last working reactor at its only nuclear plant after drought caused the Danube river to fall to record lows – a rare move that will immediately affect power supplies in neighbouring Moldova.
Drought and record-low water levels have deepened fears of an energy crisis across Europe, which is facing a new summer heatwave.
The drought-hit Danube, whose waters cool the Romanian plant in Cernavoda, already forced Nucelarelectrica to shut down one reactor in late July.
On Thursday the company said it needed to shut the second reactor “due to the significant and ongoing drop” in the river’s water level, and it did not foresee a restart in within the next 10 days. Nuclearelectrica’s two 706-megawatt reactors account for 20% of the country’s power output.
Romania has declared a state of energy emergency throughout August and asked companies and households to reduce consumption during peak hours.
Shutting down the reactor posed immediate problems for Moldova, Romania’s eastern neighbour, which has also endured low river levels and relies on Romanian power to cover up to 60% of its own electricity shortages.
With Romanian imports now unavailable, Moldova faces the prospect of increased purchases from Ukraine, if Kyiv can supply the power, buying more expensive power from western countries or imposing rolling power cuts.
“I think we should be ready for a worsening situation, including power outages, although it’s hard to say for sure right now,” Moldovan energy expert Sergiu Tofilat told Radio Chisinau.
Romania’s energy ministry said it had turned on a 330-megawatt lignite-fired power plant, adding it was also relying on increased wind generation and hydro power – based on available water in reservoirs – to make up for shortages.
It has warned that as a last resort, large industrial users would have to face restrictions in the evening hours to save electricity. In early August, the government said carmakers Dacia and Ford would pause production in the country until 19 August to help with the power deficit.
Nearly two-thirds of the Danube has seen flow rates drop to the lowest on record for a July in 34 years, according to analysis from the European climate change observatory Copernicus.
The drought has hit nuclear power providers across Europe.
France, which uses nuclear power to generate about 70% of its electricity, recorded a more than 20% shortfall in atomic production capacity this week, a record deficit caused by outages linked to drought, extreme heat and a jellyfish invasion, according to Agence France-Presse calculations based on Électricité de France (EDF) data.
In total, 13 of the 57 reactors in EDF’s nuclear fleet were affected.
