Romanian Environment Minister Barna Tanczos said that the country’s electricity generation capacities are not affected by the low water flows due to severe draught, affecting most of Romania.
Minister Tanczos explained that low Danube water levels are currently below the multiyear average, with water flows of about 3,000 liters per second at the entry point in the country, compared to a 5,800 liters per second average. However, there are no problems with the operation of hydropower and nuclear electricity generation facilities in Romania.
Earlier this week, the National Administration of Romanian Waters (ANAR) have called on the citizens to use water rationally, due to severe draught and the expected lack of rainfall in the upcoming period.
According to ANRE data, about 30 % of Romania’s operational electricity generation capacity is hydro based. Romania’s electricity generation in the first four months of 2022 amounted to 22.1 TWh, which is by 4.8 % lower compared to the same period of last year, with hydro-based electricity generation dropping by 23.8 % to 6.98 TWh.
Besides directly influencing electricity production of hydropower plants, low Danube water levels also affect the operation of Romania’s sole nuclear power plant Cernavoda. In 2003, the plant had to shut down one of its two reactors due to low water levels in the Danube. NPP Cernavoda consists of two 700 MW units, providing about a fifth of Romania’s total electricity demand.
