Danube States Seek Drought Fixes as Romania's Coal Restart Fails to Cover Lost Nuclear Output
With 40% of southeastern Europe's nuclear capacity knocked offline by record-low river levels, Romania's coal revival covers less than a quarter of the shortfall.
Governments along the Danube were still seeking solutions to drought-driven power shortfalls as of Friday (2026-09-04), Montel reported, after months of record-low river levels shut down nuclear plants across southeastern Europe and forced Romania into a hasty coal restart it had hoped to avoid.8
The underlying numbers explain why regional power systems remain stretched. Drought conditions during the week of August 3 (2026-08-03) left about 40% of southeastern Europe's nuclear capacity offline, Montel reported, as river levels that reactors depend on for cooling fell to historic lows. That loss of baseload generation sent governments searching for alternatives, none of them clean or cheap.2
Romania absorbed the heaviest blow. Nuclearelectrica began shutting its last operating reactor at Cernavoda on Thursday (2026-08-13) after the Danube hit a 90-year low, OilPrice.com reported. The plant's two reactors carry 680 MW of installed capacity each and together supply around 20% of Romania's total electricity output — a share large enough that their absence reshapes the country's entire power balance.5,7
Romania's answer was to bring coal back. The country restarted the Rovinari Group 4 unit, a 300-megawatt coal-fired plant, during the week of August 17 (2026-08-17) to partially offset the Cernavoda closure, OilPrice.com reported. That single unit covers less than a quarter of the lost nuclear generation, leaving Romania exposed to import markets and constrained by its remaining thermal capacity.7
Hungary came close to a similar reckoning. During the same early-August period, Hungary, Poland and Moldova all moved to protect electricity supply, according to Montel's reporting from the week of August 3 (2026-08-03). Hungary's exposure was acute: the plant most at risk generates over 40% of the country's electricity. Danube water levels began recovering there before the shutdown threshold was breached, energy analyst Irina Slav noted on her Substack — a narrow escape that may not repeat if drought conditions persist into the colder months.2,4
The European Commission said on August 4 (2026-08-04) it was "closely" monitoring the power situation in southeastern Europe, Montel reported, as affected countries responded with their own emergency measures.3
German power settled at €149.68/MWh at Friday's close (2026-09-04), with the ICE Endex TTF front-month at €71.95/MWh, in a market where southeastern Europe's nuclear deficit has added demand for gas-fired generation to fill the gap.8
Scientific attribution of the drought points toward a structural problem rather than an isolated event. A World Weather Attribution study co-authored by scientists across Europe and led by Sarah Kew of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute confirmed the Danube had reached its lowest level in at least 90 years. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and the World Meteorological Organisation found that Europe warmed to roughly 2.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels last year, more than twice the global average, making it the world's fastest-warming continent.6,1
That warming trajectory creates a compounding problem for nuclear and coal alike. Both rely on river water for cooling and, in coal's case, for barge transport. Romania's Rovinari restart addresses an immediate grid gap but leaves the plant exposed to the same hydrological risks that shut Cernavoda. If the Danube stays depressed into autumn, both generation sources remain vulnerable.7,1
Cernavoda's restart timeline now sits at the center of Romania's winter preparation. The two reactors combined represent 1,360 MW and roughly 20% of national supply; every week they stay offline narrows the country's import options and raises the cost of bridging through a cold snap.5,7