Paks Nuclear Power Plant output loss costs estimated at 37.4 billion HUF

Researchers from the Regional Energy Economic Research Center (REKK) estimate that the summer power output restrictions at the Paks Nuclear Power Plant resulted in significant additional costs for the electricity market. The analysis focuses on the period from mid-July to August 26, during which the plant's capacity was reduced in several stages.

To meet supply obligations, MVM Group had to purchase the missing electricity from market sources at wholesale prices. Based on an estimated production cost of approximately 14 HUF per kilowatt-hour, the difference between market prices and production costs could have caused a total loss of 37.4 billion HUF. On certain days, daily losses reportedly exceeded 2 billion HUF.

The researchers noted that the issues caused by low water levels and high water temperatures in the Danube were not entirely unforeseen. They pointed to previous hydrological studies and reports from the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority suggesting that climate change poses a growing risk to the plant's cooling water supply. The authors suggest that long-term technical investments in the cooling system might have been more cost-effective than absorbing these market losses.