Energy crisis at the nuclear power plant in Cernavodă: The Ministry of Energy estimates the reconnection of Unit 2 in June 2026

For over a week, Romania has not had functional nuclear units, both units at Cernavodă being disconnected. Unit 1 is in a planned shutdown for maintenance, while Unit 2 was automatically disconnected on May 4 due to a malfunction in a transformer.

The Ministry of Energy has confirmed that Unit 2 will be reconnected at the beginning of June 2026, and Unit 1 will be restarted after June 10.

Planned shutdowns are necessary to maintain nuclear safety standards, and each unit has a capacity of 700 MW, which means that approximately 1,400 MW will temporarily be missing from the system. In the absence of nuclear energy, Romania covers the deficit through imports, reaching up to 2,000 MW during peak hours.

The Ministry assured that Nuclearelectrica has a backup transformer, but the replacement works are complex and require time.