Hungary to deploy emergency measures to avoid energy crisis as Paks NPP could be shut down within days

The Hungarian government is activating a three-tier contingency plan to maintain electricity supply stability, as the Paks nuclear plant could be shut down within 24-72 hours. Large industrial users are asked to curb production voluntarily, but analysts do not rule out that consumers could be affected as the Paks could remain offline for weeks, Index.hu writes.

The Paks nuclear power plant could be completely shut down for the first time in its 42-year history within the next 2-3 days, as record-low water levels on the Danube prevent the plant from securing sufficient cooling water for normal operations, Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced on Facebook, after hosting  Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder in Budapest.

The news was confirmed later by the state utility company. MVM said the shutdown, which does not constitute a nuclear safety emergency, will be carried out in steps and in accordance with nuclear safety protocols. The cooling of the power plant while offline is guaranteed, they added.

Later in the day, Economy and Energy Minister Istvan Kapitany and Peter Magyar held emergency meetings at the national control centre of grid operator Mavir, state utility MVM and at the Paks nuclear facility.

At Paks, the Danube had fallen to a historic low, some 24 cm below the previous record low recorded in 2018, creating an unprecedented operational challenge for both the nuclear plant and Hungary's electricity system. Water levels are expected to decline further in the coming days as the heawave approaches Hungary, making a restart unlikely in the short term.

Former Paks commissioner Attila Aszódi, speaking to several local media outlets, said that only five of the plant's eight turbines are currently operating, and output is now at half of the 2,000 MW capacity. The gradual scale-back of production was needed to enable the remaining cooling systems to function safely.  

Aszodi said the government has limited short-term options, as new generating capacity cannot be added quickly, leaving demand management and electricity imports as the main available tools.

While Hungary has sufficient cross-border transmission capacity to increase electricity imports, he cautioned that neighbouring countries are facing the same heatwave and may also experience generation constraints, particularly at river-cooled power plants. Given the current weather forecasts, Paks could remain offline for weeks, making the next period crucial for retail and industrial users.

As of July 30, Paks was operating at half its capacity, at 1,000 MW, and the shutdown will remove around 2,000 MW, equivalent to half of domestic electricity production and 40% of consumption. To add insult to injury, an unrelated technical failure at the Dunamenti Power Plant has taken a further 400MW offline. According to the latest announcement, the power plant could return to full capacity by August 2.

Magyar said electricity demand during the current heatwave is expected to reach around 7,200MW during the evening peak, roughly 20% above a normal summer evening, but below the all-time summer high of 7,488 MW.

The guraintee the supplies, the government decided to activate a three-tier contingency plan. The first step of the emergency measures involves mobilising all available domestic generation and securing additional electricity imports. Hungary has a cross-border import capacity of around 3.6-3.8GW, which the government expects to play a key role in balancing the system.

The second stage focuses on reducing demand from large industrial consumers. Mavir was instructed to ask dozens of major electricity users, including battery plants, cement factories, chemical producers and automotive manufacturers, to voluntarily reduce consumption during the critical evening hours. The government is also preparing legislation that would allow temporary mandatory restrictions on selected industrial users if voluntary measures prove insufficient.

The third stage requires state institutions to reduce electricity consumption in government buildings. Magyar also appealed directly to households to help ease pressure on the grid by postponing energy-intensive activities, particularly electric vehicle charging and air conditioning, outside the 5-10 pm evening peak.

He said Hungary also has a pre-established rotational load-shedding plan that could be activated by Mavir if all other measures fail to maintain the balance between supply and demand. Hospitals, social care institutions and other critical infrastructure would be exempt from any rolling power cuts, but households could be impacted. This would mean a temporary shutdown of the service to consumers.

The prime minister repeated his appeal to the public to save energy by postponing energy-intensive activities outside the evening peak hours.

 "Given the gravity of this unprecedented situation, we ask both major consumers and the public to act responsibly. It is in all our interests to avoid unplanned outages and an unexpected but previously experienced system collapse in Western Europe.

Magyar also criticised the previous government for failing to address the long-known risk posed by falling Danube water levels. The construction of a new pumping station at Paks, costing HUF10bn (€28mn), would have enabled the nuclear plant to access cooling water from the Danube even at extremely low levels and save billions of forints in import costs.  

This would have delayed the shutdown by days or weeks. Instead, Magyar claimed MVM had spent "hundreds of billions of forints" on politically biased advertising, sponsorships, and sports clubs, adding that these decisions would be investigated.

The announcement marks an unprecedented development for Hungary's energy sector, as the Paks nuclear plant has never before been forced into a complete shutdown because of hydrological conditions. Last month, when Hungary recorded its hottest daily temperature on record, the Danube’s temperature surged above 30 degrees, above the environmental threshold.

The move comes as the country experiences its worst drought on record and another heatwave is forecast to push temperatures close to 40 degrees in the coming days, placing additional strain on the electricity system.

Environmental Minister Laszlo Gajdos called on residents to save water by refraining from refilling swimming pools, washing cars, and watering sports fields' lawns for the next few days.

Gajdos held talks with state-run water supply companies after the government declared the highest level of drought emergency, as 66 of the country's 84 water management districts exceeded critical drought thresholds. This means that emergency defence measures were taken across 74% of the country to combat the drought.