{"id":4837,"date":"2026-08-03T20:41:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T20:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837"},"modified":"2026-08-03T20:41:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T20:41:41","slug":"the-danube-is-running-dry-and-europes-power-grid-is-suffering-as-a-result","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837","title":{"rendered":"The Danube is running dry, and Europe\u2019s power grid is suffering as a result"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Water levels are not expected to rise on the Danube in the coming days or even weeks as no significant rainfall is forecast, and as a renewed extreme heat wave bears down on the region with daytime highs topping 38 Celsius (100 Fahrenheit), electricity and water use are on the rise.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4835\">The Iran war already has a winner: The world\u2019s largest shipbroker notching record earnings from the \u2018exceptional volatility\u2019 in the Strait of Hormuz<\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Hungary\u2019s Paks nuclear plant on brink of shutdown<\/h4>\n<p>The Danube\u2019s record low levels have pushed Hungary\u2019s only nuclear power plant, the Soviet-built, four-reactor plant at Paks,\u00a0to the brink of powering down\u00a0entirely for the first time in its 44 years in service.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Paks plant, which uses water from the Danube to cool its reactors, on Monday was producing only 240 megawatts of power rather than the usual 2,000. In video posted to Facebook on Monday, Hungarian Prime Minister P\u00e9ter Magyar said engineers had managed to keep the plant\u2019s final operating turbine temporarily running, averting an expected shutdown on the weekend.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is very good news, because the complete shutdown of the Paks power plant can still be avoided, at least temporarily, on one of the biggest consumption days,\u201d he said, adding that a full power-down was likely on Tuesday or Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>The Paks plant, located around 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Budapest, accounts for nearly half of Hungary\u2019s electricity production and around a third of its consumption. Hungary has relied on regional electricity imports as well as renewable sources to try to make up for the deficit from the Paks plant.<\/p>\n<p>Hungary\u2019s government last week asked major industrial users to curb their electricity consumption and sought voluntary savings from households in order to conserve supply, particularly in peak demand hours between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It also announced that electric-powered freight trains would not be permitted to run during peak hours beginning on Monday in order to conserve an estimated 70 to 90 megawatt-hours of electricity per day.<\/p>\n<p>While conservation measures were initially voluntary, Magyar\u2019s government on Saturday issued a decree allowing for them to be made mandatory for large industrial or commercial consumers.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>He said Monday that the conservation push had resulted in 700 fewer megawatts of electricity being used the previous day, and thanked Hungarians for their efforts.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4833\">Ukraine uses business principles to maximize Russia\u2019s casualties and economic costs, potentially crushing its will to keep fighting, RAND says<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h4>Serbia and Romania grapple with low Danube levels<\/h4>\n<p>Meanwhile, plants in neighboring countries have also seen dramatic drops in power generation, as well as disruptions to shipping and agriculture.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Romania\u2019s military on Monday used 180 kilograms (397 pounds) of explosives to blast rock near the Danube\u2019s Bala Canal in order to redirect water into the river\u2019s main channel and toward the state-owned Cernavoda nuclear power plant.<\/p>\n<p>The Danube\u2019s water flow has fallen to 1,500 cubic meters per second in Romania, less than a third of its July average. Authorities have already shut down one reactor unit at the Cernavoda plant, which is operating at about half its normal capacity.<\/p>\n<p>Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan announced a nationwide state of alert in the energy sector on Friday, and warned that the Danube\u2019s low water levels threatened the shutdown of Cernavoda\u2019s second reactor. He appealed to citizens to voluntarily limit electricity usage in peak evening hours.<\/p>\n<p>After meeting with major industrial consumers on Monday, Bolojan said carmakers Dacia and Ford had gone into maintenance and halted auto production until Aug. 19, while other companies agreed to reduce their energy usage during peak hours.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In Serbia, record-low Danube levels have pushed the country\u2019s key hydroelectric plant to operate with only 20% of its capacity, prompting Prime Minister Djuro Macut to preside over an emergency meeting on Monday focusing on energy problems.<\/p>\n<p>Macut appealed to residents to \u201cminimize the use of big consumers of electricity in their homes, such as air conditioners.\u201d He described the situation in a statement late on Sunday as \u201cserious and demanding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>Associated Press writers Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia, and Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4831\">Yen rises amid speculation of more intervention after U.S. support<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drought is forcing nuclear and hydropower plants to cut output as governments urge households and businesses to save electricity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[297],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-european-union"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Danube is running dry, and Europe\u2019s power grid is suffering as a result - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Danube is running dry, and Europe\u2019s power grid is suffering as a result - Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Drought is forcing nuclear and hydropower plants to cut output as governments urge households and businesses to save electricity.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-03T20:41:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4837#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4837\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"headline\":\"The Danube is running dry, and Europe\u2019s power grid is suffering as a result\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-03T20:41:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4837\"},\"wordCount\":723,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4837#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/73e3bbfe1c09c87db6125e2efba4f879.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"European Union\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4837#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4837\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4837\",\"name\":\"The Danube is running dry, and Europe\u2019s power grid is suffering as a result - Cross Country Moving Team\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4837#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4837#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/73e3bbfe1c09c87db6125e2efba4f879.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-03T20:41:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4837#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4837\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4837#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/73e3bbfe1c09c87db6125e2efba4f879.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/73e3bbfe1c09c87db6125e2efba4f879.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4837#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Danube is running dry, and Europe\u2019s power grid is suffering as a result\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cross Country Moving Team\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Danube is running dry, and Europe\u2019s power grid is suffering as a result - Cross Country Moving Team","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Danube is running dry, and Europe\u2019s power grid is suffering as a result - Cross Country Moving Team","og_description":"Drought is forcing nuclear and hydropower plants to cut output as governments urge households and businesses to save electricity.","og_url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837","og_site_name":"Cross Country Moving Team","article_published_time":"2026-08-03T20:41:41+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"headline":"The Danube is running dry, and Europe\u2019s power grid is suffering as a result","datePublished":"2026-08-03T20:41:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837"},"wordCount":723,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/73e3bbfe1c09c87db6125e2efba4f879.webp","articleSection":["European Union"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837","name":"The Danube is running dry, and Europe\u2019s power grid is suffering as a result - Cross Country Moving Team","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/73e3bbfe1c09c87db6125e2efba4f879.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-03T20:41:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/73e3bbfe1c09c87db6125e2efba4f879.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/73e3bbfe1c09c87db6125e2efba4f879.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4837#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Danube is running dry, and Europe\u2019s power grid is suffering as a result"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/","name":"Cross Country Moving Team","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com"],"url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}