{"id":2858865,"version":0,"headline":"Hungary’s 2GW Paks nuclear plant set for full shutdown","dateModified":"2026-07-30T16:02:07Z","datePublished":"2026-07-30T14:14:52Z","articleBody":"

Hungary's key Paks nuclear plant is set to fully shut down because of extremely low Danube River levels, plant operator MVM Paksi Atomeromu said today.

The plant — which needs cooling water from the Danube to operate — has experienced incremental capacity reductions since 27 July. Paks is running at about 885MW of its installed 2GW capacity as of early this afternoon.

The Hungarian week-ahead contract was trading at about €250-263/MWh by early this afternoon, compared with an assessed price of €217.90/MWh a day earlier. The August contract also rose, trading at €175.25-182/MWh, up from €165.15/MWh on Wednesday.

A full shutdown has become \"inevitable\" because — while there is still sufficient water in the Danube to cool the units — the water level is lower than the suction pipes used to extract water from the river, the operator said.

The company plans to move the suction pipes deeper in future but the process would take years.

Danube levels at Paks stood at 121cm below the reference level at midday today, a record low, and could fall to minus 134cm by 4 August, according to Interreg Danube data.

In the case of a full Paks shutdown, the domestic generation shortfall will be covered by imports, Hungarian prime minister Peter Magyar said today. The country has 3.6-3.8GW of import capacity, Magyar said.

By Jessamy Guest

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Hungary's key Paks nuclear plant is set to fully shut down because of extremely low Danube River levels, plant operator MVM Paksi Atomeromu said today.

The plant — which needs cooling water from the Danube to operate — has experienced incremental capacity reductions since 27 July. Paks is running at about 885MW of its installed 2GW capacity as of early this afternoon.

The Hungarian week-ahead contract was trading at about €250-263/MWh by early this afternoon, compared with an assessed price of €217.90/MWh a day earlier. The August contract also rose, trading at €175.25-182/MWh, up from €165.15/MWh on Wednesday.

A full shutdown has become \"inevitable\" because — while there is still sufficient water in the Danube to cool the units — the water level is lower than the suction pipes used to extract water from the river, the operator said.

The company plans to move the suction pipes deeper in future but the process would take years.

Danube levels at Paks stood at 121cm below the reference level at midday today, a record low, and could fall to minus 134cm by 4 August, according to Interreg Danube data.

In the case of a full Paks shutdown, the domestic generation shortfall will be covered by imports, Hungarian prime minister Peter Magyar said today. The country has 3.6-3.8GW of import capacity, Magyar said.

By Jessamy Guest

","lead":"Hungary's key Paks nuclear plant is set to fully shut down because of extremely low Danube River levels, plant operator MVM Paksi Atomeromu said today.","cmsId":"24937708","source":"Censhare"}