“We are facing the most critical five days ahead of us. The Paks power plant will not produce energy, while the hottest days with temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius are still ahead. The power grid, public services and all of us will face extraordinary pressure,” Magyar said.
To save energy, Budapest has turned off decorative lighting on state buildings, restricted rail freight transport and reduced the pace of metro and tram operations.
“We inherited a fragile, expensive and vulnerable system. Now we have to operate, protect and rebuild it all at the same time,” said Magyar. In Serbia, hundreds of boats and dozens of cargo ships have been stranded near Novi Sad as the river level has receded tens of meters from its usual shore. The waterway that connects several European countries has become increasingly unreliable for transporting grain, oil and other goods.
At Serbia’s largest hydropower plant, Djerdap 1, energy production has dropped to just 20% of capacity, while water shortages have also forced coal-fired power plants to reduce production.
Problems have also emerged in Romania, where a nuclear reactor has been shut down due to a lack of cooling, while a second is at risk of facing the same problem. The Danube, which flows through 10 countries, has dropped to record levels, revealing dry banks, World War II shipwrecks and even the remains of an ancient Ice Age mammoth in Bulgaria.
Drought is becoming a direct threat to the region’s energy and economic security, while governments are taking measures to deal with it.