Hungary started to switch back on a turbine at the Paks nuclear plant on Monday after a rise in water levels on the Danube river which cools the plant, offering some relief to the facility supplying nearly half the country’s electricity.
Danube Water Levels Rise
The Danube fell to record lows in recent weeks amid a prolonged heatwave and drought across much of Europe, forcing the plant to operate at only around 10% of its capacity with only one of its eight turbines left running.
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Monday that work to restart a second turbine at Paks began after the Danube rose 19 centimetres above last week’s low. The second turbine was expected to start generating electricity on Monday evening, he said on Facebook.
Magyar flagged the possibility of increasing output last week, saying that expected rainfall in Austria could raise Danube levels, but cautioned that the rise would be temporary.
The government has also decided to diversify its energy supply, with Magyar saying the government will tender 700 megawatts of wind power generation capacity by August 31 and develop 4 gigawatts of wind capacity by 2030.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
