For an entire week only a single turbine (out of two) in a single block (out of 4) was operational, producing ~260MW out of the full 2000MW capacity. Yesterday the water levels of the Danube allowed for the second turbine to restart¹, raising production to ~339MW.
However, that's just one thing. Naturally, a heatwave raises the water temperature. Used as coolant, the power plant further heats the water, affecting the ecology of the river, thus the temperature is constantly monitored and strict limits are imposed: around 30℃ the plant must throttle/shut down to protect wildlife even if water levels are fine.
We've been skirting that limit all month.²
And climate change also has a price tag: by conservative estimates³ the extra imported power cost Hungary upwards of *one million euros a day*
https://mastodon.world/@davidho/117076526053125827
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¹: https://telex.hu/gazdasag/2026/08/10/paks-atomeromu-magyar-peter-duna-vizszint
²: https://telex.hu/g7/adat/2026/08/10/paks-vizhomerseklet-hutoviz
³: https://telex.hu/g7/kozelet/2026/08/09/arampiac-paks-kieses-szamolas-problema-rendszervaltas
Maybe this will finally get politicians to care about climate change:
“The brutally hot summer is set to cost the EU economy €180 billion this year — that’s equivalent to roughly 1 percent of GDP, which is all the growth the bloc was expected to generate in 2026, according to new analysis.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/europes-scorching-summer-could-erase-blocs-2026-growth/