Record low Danube levels push some countries in Eastern Europe to the
brink of energy emergency
[August 04, 2026]
By JUSTIN SPIKE
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Numerous governments across Central and Eastern
Europe are taking steps to conserve electricity and avert an energy
crisis as record low water levels on the Danube River have forced power
plants to the brink of shutting down.
Persistent drought and successive extreme heat waves have deprived one
of Europe's largest rivers of water, pushing the Danube's levels in
Hungary's capital Budapest to around 10 centimeters (4 inches) on
Monday, well below the previous all-time low of 33 centimeters (13
inches) set in 2018.
Water levels are not expected to rise on the Danube in the coming days
or even weeks as no significant rainfall is forecast, and as a renewed
extreme heat wave bears down on the region with daytime highs topping 38
Celsius (100 Fahrenheit), electricity and water use are on the rise.
Hungary's Paks nuclear plant on brink of shutdown
The Danube's record low levels have pushed Hungary's only nuclear power
plant, the Soviet-built, four-reactor plant at Paks, to the brink of
powering down entirely for the first time in its 44 years in service.
The Paks plant, which uses water from the Danube to cool its reactors,
on Monday was producing only 240 megawatts of power rather than the
usual 2,000. In video posted to Facebook on Monday, Hungarian Prime
Minister Péter Magyar said engineers had managed to keep the plant’s
final operating turbine temporarily running, averting an expected
shutdown on the weekend.
“This is very good news, because the complete shutdown of the Paks power
plant can still be avoided, at least temporarily, on one of the biggest
consumption days,” he said, adding that a full power-down was likely on
Tuesday or Wednesday.
The Paks plant, located around 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of
Budapest, accounts for nearly half of Hungary’s electricity production
and around a third of its consumption. Hungary has relied on regional
electricity imports as well as renewable sources to try to make up for
the deficit from the Paks plant.
Hungary’s government last week asked major industrial users to curb
their electricity consumption and sought voluntary savings from
households in order to conserve supply, particularly in peak demand
hours between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.
It also announced that electric-powered freight trains would not be
permitted to run during peak hours beginning on Monday in order to
conserve an estimated 70 to 90 megawatt-hours of electricity per day.
While conservation measures were initially voluntary, Magyar’s
government on Saturday issued a decree allowing for them to be made
mandatory for large industrial or commercial consumers.
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The MVM Paks Nuclear Power Plant, which had to close its Reactor 3
due to extremely low water levels on the Danube River, is seen in
Paks, Hungary, Wednesday July 29, 2026. (Daniel Kiss)
He said Monday that the conservation push had resulted in 700 fewer
megawatts of electricity being used the previous day, and thanked
Hungarians for their efforts.
Serbia and Romania grapple with low Danube levels
Meanwhile, plants in neighboring countries have also seen dramatic
drops in power generation, as well as disruptions to shipping and
agriculture.
Romania’s military on Monday used 180 kilograms (397 pounds) of
explosives to blast rock near the Danube’s Bala Canal in order to
redirect water into the river’s main channel and toward the
state-owned Cernavoda nuclear power plant.
The Danube's water flow has fallen to 1,500 cubic meters per second
in Romania, less than a third of its July average. Authorities have
already shut down one reactor unit at the Cernavoda plant, which is
operating at about half its normal capacity.
Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan announced a nationwide state of
alert in the energy sector on Friday, and warned that the Danube’s
low water levels threatened the shutdown of Cernavoda’s second
reactor. He appealed to citizens to voluntarily limit electricity
usage in peak evening hours.
After meeting with major industrial consumers on Monday, Bolojan
said carmakers Dacia and Ford had gone into maintenance and halted
auto production until Aug. 19, while other companies agreed to
reduce their energy usage during peak hours.
In Serbia, record-low Danube levels have pushed the country’s key
hydroelectric plant to operate with only 20% of its capacity,
prompting Prime Minister Djuro Macut to preside over an emergency
meeting on Monday focusing on energy problems.
Macut appealed to residents to “minimize the use of big consumers of
electricity in their homes, such as air conditioners.” He described
the situation in a statement late on Sunday as “serious and
demanding.”
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Associated Press writers Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia, and Stephen
McGrath in Leamington Spa, England, contributed to this report.
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