Romania is dealing with a prolonged nuclear outage at the Cernavoda plant, with persistently low Danube river levels delaying restart conditions. Both reactors have been offline since Aug. 13. Unit 1 had already stopped in July before unit 2 was subsequently shut down.
Cooling requirements for a restart are being limited by the low Danube. As a result, Romania could remain without generation from Cernavoda until late September. The Energy Ministry plans to reassess the situation after Sept. 15.
Power supply coverage during the nuclear outage
Coal and gas generation have so far compensated for part of the missing nuclear output. Cross-border imports have also contributed to balancing supply during the outage. Nuclear generation in Hungary and Bulgaria has continued to support regional availability.
Expected stronger wind generation could provide additional near-term support. The Energy Ministry expects peak imports to remain below 2 GW. Demand patterns are also relevant as Romania moves toward the higher-demand winter period.
Demand outlook and winter risk if outage persists
Romanian summer peak consumption typically reaches around 7.5-8 GW, while winter requirements are substantially higher. Electricity demand reached 9.235 GW on Jan. 19, 2026. The more difficult test would come if the nuclear outage extends further towards winter.
Every additional week without nuclear generation increases reliance on thermal fuel costs, renewable weather conditions, and available cross-border capacity for Romanian and regional winter power balances.
