Hungary Lifts Emergency Power Measures as Paks Approaches Full 2 GW Output
The Danube's recovery from record lows has allowed Hungary's sole nuclear plant to restore 1.4 GW, ending demand rationing in force since late July.
Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant restored 1 GW of generating capacity on Monday (2026-08-24), lifting total output to 1.4 GW of its 2 GW nameplate rating as rising Danube water levels eased the cooling constraints that had crippled the facility since late July, Montel reported.8
Paks supplies close to half of Hungary's electricity, and the loss of most of that output through the summer quickly escalated into a national emergency. Prime Minister Péter Magyar warned publicly of an energy crisis, and the European Commission said it was prepared to convene an emergency meeting of its Electricity Coordination Group, Euronews reported. Magyar also raised the prospect of a full plant shutdown if water levels did not recover.5,1
The drought driving the crisis set records. Hungary's water managers recorded a Danube level of 31 centimetres at Budapest on Tuesday (2026-07-28), a figure that had never appeared in gauge records, shattering the previous all-time low of 33 centimetres set on October 25, 2018. Water that shallow could not sustain the cooling flow Paks needed to run anywhere near rated output.4
At its worst, Paks was generating around just 0.5 GW, one quarter of its nameplate capacity, for an extended period as heat and drought together suppressed what river cooling the Danube could still provide.8
The government moved first on demand. Voluntary power rationing was lifted on Friday (2026-08-07) after rain and cooler conditions provided temporary relief, but Magyar warned that same day that Paks still faced the risk of a complete shutdown if Danube levels did not recover durably.1
Supply-side recovery came in stages. Hungary expected the plant to resume generating electricity on Monday (2026-08-10) evening after one turbine was switched back on, Magyar said. Work also started on an emergency barrier to protect Paks' water intake infrastructure, Montel reported from August 12 (2026-08-12).2,3
By mid-August, state energy company MVM had told Montel the plant was expected to return fully online within a week.6 That timetable slipped. By Monday (2026-08-24), 1 GW had been restored, bringing Paks to 1.4 GW with one turbine still offline, and Montel reported full output was expected in the days following.8
Hungary's experience ran alongside disruptions across Europe. Extreme heat through July and August stressed nuclear cooling systems in multiple countries, with some governments failing to maintain plants at target output despite emergency interventions, according to reporting from August 2026. Triodos, the Dutch bank, estimated in an August report that the cumulative economic cost of Europe's summer heat could reach around $207.7 billion, approximately 1% of EU GDP.7
Six hundred megawatts of Paks capacity remains offline. Hungary's grid does not return to full self-sufficiency until the final turbine confirms rated output, and MVM's mid-August forecast for a complete restart has already slipped by at least a week. Danube levels through September are what system operators and central European power traders are now tracking most closely. Dry conditions reasserting themselves in the Pannonian basin before temperatures moderate could reintroduce the cooling constraints that have kept Hungary's largest generator curtailed for much of the summer.8