London, 6 August (Argus) — Romanian state-owned generator Hidroelectrica has called force majeure on power deliveries starting from tomorrow because of drought.

The generator expects to produce only 700GWh in August, down from a forecast 1,100GWh owing to low water levels on the Danube river and “unfavourable hydrological forecasts for the coming months”, the firm said.

Hidroelectrica has recently cancelled long-term sales contracts with a number of companies including subsidiaries of Swiss utility Alpiq and Serbia-based EFT, but still has contracts to supply a total of 926GWh in August.

This includes six contracts for power from 10 August-31 December signed after a tender on Romanian power exchange Opcom's CMBC platform last week.

Power will be supplied to customers proportionally using a single formula to calculate deliveries, Hidroelectrica said. It will resume full supplies when hydrological levels improve.

Water flow on the Danube on entry to Romania was 3,800 m³/second (m³/s) today, compared with seasonal norms for August of 4,300 m³/s, according to data from the national hydrological institute.

Hydropower generation averaged 1,339MW over the first five days of August, down from 1,587MW over July, according to data from grid operator Transelectrica.

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