Gergely Karácsony, Budapest’s mayor, has ordered Budapest Public Utilities to prepare for the shutdown of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant by not turning on decorative lighting at over 300 buildings under its management for the duration of the outage.
No more decorative lighting if Paks NPP ceases operation
Budapest must do its part in energy conservation, and significant amounts of energy can be saved by forgoing decorative lighting, especially during this critical period of energy consumption, Karácsony said on Facebook on Thursday evening, stressing that the measure does not affect street lighting.
He also urged the owners of privately owned buildings with decorative lighting to follow suit. “The cityscape may be a little plainer for a while, but more energy will be available for essential purposes — and right now, nothing is more important than that,” he wrote.
Péter Magyar: Restart of Dunamenti Power Plant block set to begin on Friday
The restart of a block at the gas-fired Dunamenti Power Plant south of Budapest, which was shut down due to a malfunction, could begin on Friday, Prime Minister Péter Magyar said on Thursday. The facility may return to full capacity as early as Sunday, contributing to Hungary’s energy security sooner than initially expected, he said on Facebook.
In a video recorded at the plant, Magyar noted that Hungary’s second-largest gas-fired power plant halted electricity production on Wednesday, coinciding with the shutdown of one of the blocks at the Paks nuclear power plant. The shutdown at the Dunamenti plant occurred after a technical anomaly was detected in a special sealing component during the planned start-up of the G3 block.
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This outage, alongside the Paks shutdown, represents an additional 380 MW reduction in capacity during Hungary’s most critical energy situation to date, Magyar added.
He said the partially state-owned plant’s management has reported that repairs are under way, the necessary component has been ordered from Switzerland and France, and installation could begin as early as Friday following the cooling of the affected area.
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Paks NPP shutdown date revealed, PM Péter Magyar says Hungary may face energy crisis
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