Hungary’s Energy Ministry is planning to allow the temperature limit for a 500-metre section of the Danube which receives cooling water from the Paks NPP to be exceeded for security of supply reasons, if necessary. According to current regulations, the river cannot receive water if its temperature exceeds 30ºC, in which case the plant has to reduce output and wait for the river to cool below the limit. Such reductions took place twice last year during July and August for 22-72 hours.
“Due to climate change, weather conditions may increasingly lead to the limit being reached in summer, especially at low water levels,” according to the Ministry statement. The proposed plan would maintain this limit but would allow the operator to exceed it on a case-by-case basis with the permission of the Energy Minister. “The curtailment of output from Paks could directly jeopardise the smooth supply to domestic consumers in a tight energy market,” the statement said. “In addition to environmental considerations, it may therefore be justified to exceed the limit value on a case-by-case basis if this is unavoidable for security of supply.” The proposal has been submitted for public consultation.
Due to the increasing frequency of summer heat due to climate change, energy demand may be much higher in the future, but this may also be increased by the proliferation of electric cars, the Ministry notes. The Ministry also points to the harmful and costly consequence of frequent power changes which reduces the life of the power plant’s system components and the fuel efficiency.
The solution is seen by the government in the longer term in the storage of green energy, the construction of new gas power plants, the expansion of Paks and the extension of operating hours.
The Paks plant has four Russian-built VVER 440 reactors which began operation between 1982 and 1987 and were scheduled to be retired in 2032-2037. However, the Hungarian parliament approved extending the life of the units for another 20 years. Paks currently provides half of all generated and one third of the consumed electricity in Hungary. The Paks II project was launched in 2014 by an inter-governmental agreement between Hungary and Russia for two VVER-1200 reactors (units 5&6) and construction is now underway.
