Emerald Horizon offers fix as Europe's power grid strains under drought

A severe summer drought has lowered river levels and raised water temperatures across Europe, forcing the shutdown of the Paks nuclear plant in Hungary, a reactor block at Cernavoda in Romania, and the Beznau plant in Switzerland, while France has had to curtail output at several sites. In Romania, the government ordered the temporary closure of the Dacia (Renault) and Ford factories to reduce electricity consumption and keep the grid stable.

Emerald Horizon CEO Florian Wagner said the crisis exposes a fundamental design flaw in the existing energy system, noting that “when a drought hits, not one but two pillars – hydro power and nuclear – fail together because they rely on the same water resource.” The company’s SMRX system, based on an Accelerator Driven Energy Source, together with its DUALstorePLUS storage solution, is presented as a way to eliminate this double risk and provide reliable power and heat storage.