Romania seeks EU assessment of regional power security as second nuclear reactor prepares to shut down

  Romania has asked the European Commission and the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) to carry out an updated assessment of regional electricity security as the country prepares to shut down the second unit of its Cernavoda nuclear power plant because of exceptionally low Danube water levels.Secretary of State at the Ministry of Energy Cristian Busoi presented Romania's situation at Tuesday's meeting of the European Commission's Electricity Coordination Group, outlining the imminent shutdown of Cernavoda Unit 2 and the legislative measures adopted by the government to manage the situation.According to Busoi, Romania requested that the European Commission and ENTSO-E assess available generation capacity, balancing reserves, cross-border interconnection capacity and the ability of neighbouring electricity systems to provide support should the regional situation deteriorate further.Romania activated the "early warning" mechanism on Friday in response to recent regional developments and on Monday evening notified the next level, "crisis situation", under Article 14(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/941 on risk preparedness in the electricity sector.Busoi also stressed the need to clarify and continue discussions on the practical availability of emergency assistance mechanisms between neighbouring transmission system operators, including the early identification of any technical or other constraints that could affect the activation and delivery of such support.He further requested that the European Commission hold technical talks with the Romanian authorities at short notice to examine all instruments available under the European Union's legal and institutional framework that could be mobilised should the situation worsen further, including possible interventions in the electricity market.Busoi also said Romania had explained to the Commission that the planned closure of the Turceni 5 coal-fired generating unit by Aug. 31, required under Milestone 119A of Romania's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), would be extremely problematic under the current circumstances. Romania will continue discussions with the Commission to secure approval for four lignite-fired generating units, including one reserve unit, to remain operational beyond the end of August.The Turceni unit forms part of Milestone 119A, which provides for replacing coal in Romania's electricity generation mix as part of power market reform.Speaking separately to Digi24 television, Busoi said any electricity consumption restrictions would apply only to large industrial consumers and would not affect households or essential services."There is no reason for concern regarding household electricity consumption as a result of the shutdown of Cernavoda Unit 2. Romania has sufficient domestic generation to supply households and essential services, including hospitals, pharmacies and public institutions," he said.He added that if sufficient electricity could not be secured on the regional market, the government could introduce temporary peak-hour restrictions for large industrial consumers only.According to Busoi, Romania still has several options before such measures become necessary, including electricity imports, the activation of a reserve generating unit at the Oltenia Energy Complex and the use of additional hydropower reserves.He also said the Rovinari 4 reserve unit at the Oltenia Energy Complex has substantial coal reserves available for emergency situations or to compensate for outages at the three generating units currently in operation, providing almost 900 MW of coal-fired capacity.Romania's Cernavoda nuclear power plant has begun technical procedures for the controlled shutdown of Unit 2 because of the exceptionally low flow of the Danube and falling water levels at the cooling water intake. The Ministry of Energy expects the reactor to be shut down later this week if hydrological conditions do not improve.Cernavoda Unit 1 was disconnected from the national electricity grid on July 28 following a controlled shutdown.The Cernavoda nuclear power plant operates two 700 MW CANDU reactors fuelled by natural uranium and moderated and cooled with heavy water. When both units are operational, the plant accounts for about 20% of Romania's dispatchable electricity generation.