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Hungary faces energy crunch as drought shuts down Paks nuclear plant, PM says
politico.eu • • world
Key Points:
- Hungary has shut down the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, which generates 40% of the country's electricity, due to record drought and low water levels in the Danube River affecting cooling operations.
- Prime Minister Péter Magyar described the coming five days as "the most critical" for Hungary's electricity system and urged citizens to conserve energy, especially during peak hours from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
- The government has implemented national energy-saving measures, including potential temporary restrictions on industrial electricity use and increased output from other power plants, to manage the strain on the power grid.
- The shutdown coincides with a heatwave forecasted to push temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius in Budapest, raising concerns about an energy crisis amid high summer demand.
- The European Commission is closely monitoring the situation and is ready to hold an emergency meeting of its Electricity Coordination Group to address the impact of the Paks plant outage.
