Hungary: Tiszalök hydropower plant (12.9 MW) back online after more than two months of drought shutdown

The Tiszalök hydropower plant on the Tisza river restarted early this week after the water level at the Tiszalök upper gauge exceeded 450 centimetres, the North Hungarian Water Directorate (ÉMVIZIG) announced, as reported by hvg.hu and Infostart. The plant had been shut down on 29 August in the middle of the drought and was idle for a little over two months.

The figures. The plant's installed capacity is 12.9 MW, equivalent to 0.65% of the total capacity of the Paks nuclear power plant, according to hvg.hu. At the time of the shutdown, Telex wrote that because of the low river level the plant had not been reaching that output in the preceding period anyway, and that the Tisza catchment had brought only a quarter of the usual volume of water that year.

The role of the barrage. Tisza MP Péter Lajos Szakács stressed in August that the plant's main task is regulating the flow, with power generation only a secondary function, and that the region's energy supply remained secure. During the drought, ÉMVIZIG took over water management at the barrage from MVM Tiszalöki Erőmű in order to send water towards Lake Tisza, the Eastern Main Canal and the Körös valley, according to Telex.

What comes next. Water levels are also rising downstream: at Kisköre, the gauge read 659 centimetres on the morning of 4 November, and the usable reserve of Lake Tisza and the Kisköre–Tiszalök stretch rose to 51.45 million cubic metres, more than double the 26 October level (25.2 million), according to the Middle Tisza Water Directorate (KÖTIVIZIG), as reported by Heol.

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