Bolojan Calls for SE Europe Power Rationing as 40C Heatwave and Drought Cut Generation Capacity
Drought-driven loss of hydropower and nuclear output has pushed Romanian day-ahead power to €149.75/MWh and prompted Bucharest to appeal for regional demand cuts.
Romanian prime minister Ilie Bolojan called for coordinated power rationing across southeast Europe late on Monday (2026-08-03), as a 40-degree heatwave and ongoing drought cut output from both hydropower plants and nuclear stations across a region with little spare capacity to absorb either shock. Montel reported the appeal.4
Hungary shows how fast conditions have moved in the week to Monday (2026-08-03). Day-ahead power prices there almost doubled, Montel reported, as nuclear outages and Danube water levels at a record low pulled generation capacity offline at the same moment cooling demand was rising. When river flows fall far enough, hydropower output drops and nuclear plants that depend on river water for cooling face constraints on output. Both mechanisms tightened together.3
Romanian day-ahead power was priced at €149.75/MWh on Monday (2026-08-03). German day-ahead power was quoted at €132.45/MWh the same evening, down 4.24% on the day despite broad European heat. The divergence points to a supply shock concentrated in southeastern Europe, where low Danube levels and nuclear outages have no direct parallel in the more diversified generation mix to the west.3,4
ICE Endex TTF front-month gas was off 2.49% on Monday evening (2026-08-03), quoted at €57.57/MWh. Falling gas prices alongside elevated Balkan power prices reflects a crunch driven by lost hydro and nuclear output rather than gas demand. The region is not short of gas as a fuel. It is short of physical generation capacity able to run.3,4
Fintan Devenney, senior energy analyst at Montel, said power demand across Europe was high, "driven in part by increased cooling load." Demand is one side of the squeeze. But the drought pushing Danube water levels to a record low predates the current heatwave and will not ease simply when temperatures drop. A recovery in river flows requires sustained rainfall, and the timeline for that is not visible in current forecasts.1,3
Bolojan's rationing call is directed at neighboring governments, not Romanian consumers alone. Serbia faced record power demand during a heat episode in late June (2026-06-30), Montel reported, and sits within the same southeastern European interconnected grid. Coordination among regional grid operators on meaningful demand reductions remains uncertain from available reporting.2,3
The nuclear cooling constraint operates differently from a fuel shortage. River-cooled plants are subject to environmental limits on the temperature and volume of water they can discharge; when inflows drop below thresholds, output must be reduced regardless of market price. This is a physical ceiling, not a commercial one. Montel reported that nuclear outages were a direct factor in Hungarian day-ahead prices nearly doubling in the week to Monday (2026-08-03).3
With TTF soft and no equivalent backstop in gas markets, clearing the shortage in southeastern Europe requires a drop in demand or a change in drought conditions. Neither arrives on the timescales a grid operator needs. The Danube at a record low means reservoirs will take time to refill even if rainfall returns, keeping the crunch in place for as long as the heat holds.3,4