Romania's Cernavodă unit 2 set to rejoin grid on Tuesday, 10 November

Unit 1 back, Unit 2 next

The Cernavodă nuclear plant is returning to full operation. The Ministry of Energy said the start-up sequence for Unit 2 began at 00:42 on Monday, 9 November 2026, and the unit is expected to reconnect to the national grid on Tuesday, 10 November. Unit 1 was reconnected on Friday, 6 November, after more than three months offline, following checks by specialists that confirmed the conditions for leaving the guaranteed shutdown state had been met. Ziare.com reported that Unit 1 reached nominal power on Sunday, 8 November at 10:07, while HotNews, citing Transelectrica data, put its output at 520 MW on Monday morning, about two thirds of its 700 MW rating. If Unit 2 follows the announced timetable, the plant would return to a combined capacity of about 1,400 MW.

How the shutdown unfolded

Unit 1 was shut down in a controlled manner on 28 July, when low Danube flows prevented the operator from securing the cooling the reactors require. Unit 2 followed on 13 August, leaving the plant fully offline for almost three months. Prime Minister Luca Niculescu, who visited the plant on Saturday, 7 November, said Nuclearelectrica had lost 1 billion lei across that period, as reported by HotNews. He described the simultaneous shutdown of both reactors as an extremely rare situation that had not been estimated for a hundred years. Speaking during the visit, Niculescu stressed what the restart means for the energy system.

“You can imagine how important this is for Romania's energy security, especially at this time.”

He added that the return of the plant eases pressure on the system and should reduce imports, especially at peak hours.

Imports and grid pressure

Energy expert Ciprian Cherciu told Digi24 that the restart lowers the chance of controlled power cuts but does not mean cheaper bills, because Romania remains in deficit. Cherciu estimated that one reactor accounts for roughly 10% of Romanian consumption and that imports were around 2,000 MW at the time of his comments. He said that on 3 October imports reached 3,400 to 3,500 MW, while Romania can theoretically import about 4,000 MW through its interconnectors. He said that with two reactors offline, the country had come close to the theoretical limit at which the planned controlled disconnections could have been applied.

“Romania is still in deficit, we import at most times of the day.”

Cherciu warned that colder temperatures would push consumption up in the coming period, keeping the margin thin.

Current generation and exports

At 08:50 on Monday, 9 November 2026, total production in Romania stood at 5,863 MW against consumption of 7,098 MW, according to G4Media. Hydrocarbons supplied the largest share at 27.38% (1,607 MW), followed by hydro at 24.77% (1,456 MW). Photovoltaic output reached 18.48% (1,086 MW), coal 9.82% (577 MW) and nuclear 8.83% (519 MW). Transelectrica data cited by Digi24 put Cernavodă at over 3% of total production at that moment. HotNews reported that during the previous weekend Romania exported energy, at times more than 2,800 MW, mainly because of high wind and solar output.

Hydrocarbons1,607

Hydro1,456

Solar photovoltaic1,086

Coal577

Nuclear519

Hydrocarbons

1607 MW

Hydro

1456 MW

Solar photovoltaic

1086 MW

Coal

577 MW

Nuclear

519 MW

Data from the article text

Water supply and dredging plans

Niculescu asked for the Bala 2 project to be accelerated. The investment is meant to increase the volume of water directed to Cernavodă so the existing reactors and the planned Units 3 and 4 can be cooled. He also asked for dredging work to be carried out on a permanent basis to reduce the risk of new interruptions when Danube levels fall. Ziare.com said the shutdown exposed the plant's vulnerability to prolonged drought. The government is preparing measures to avoid a new crisis at Cernavodă, according to the same report.