Romanian carmakers Dacia and Ford halt production until August 19 amid mounting power shortages

BUCHAREST, Aug 3 (Reuters) — Romania’s two major car plants, Dacia and Ford, have stopped production until Aug. 19 in a voluntary move to ease pressure on the national power grid, interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said on Monday.

The decision by the Renault-owned Dacia plant in Mioveni and the Ford Otosan factory in Craiova will cut electricity demand by about 200 megawatts, Bolojan told reporters after a meeting with large industrial consumers. Other companies are also scaling back operations or shifting into maintenance work during the same period.

“Dacia and Ford are from today with production stopped until the 19th, which means 200 MW saved,” Bolojan said. “This decision will be taken by other companies as well so that we have a voluntary reduction in the evening.”

Romania is grappling with a regional energy crunch driven by prolonged drought. Water levels on the Danube have fallen to their lowest in four decades — around 1,450 cubic meters per second on Monday and expected to drop further toward 1,400 later this week. Hydroelectric output has suffered, and authorities recently carried out a controlled shutdown of Unit 1 at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant. There is concern that Unit 2 could also face constraints.

The tightest hours are in the evening, between roughly 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. Bolojan said the government will adopt a decision in the coming days that would allow the grid operator Transelectrica to impose temporary consumption limits on large industrial users if voluntary cuts prove insufficient. Companies would receive 24 hours’ notice, and limits would take into account their specific technology and minimum operating needs.

“This measure is a reserve,” Bolojan said. “It is a mechanism we are putting in place according to the legal provisions so that we can take coordinated steps if needed in the coming days.”

He also appealed to public institutions and local authorities to dim architectural lighting and reduce building activity, particularly between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Ordinary households were encouraged to make small savings where possible.

The auto sector is among Romania’s biggest industrial power users, alongside steel, aluminum and cement producers. Both Dacia and Ford had already been running below last year’s levels in the first half of 2026 amid softer European demand. The temporary halt will add further disruption to output in a year that has already seen production decline.

Authorities stress that the current steps remain voluntary for now, but the combination of low river flows, reduced nuclear availability and evening demand peaks has left the system under clear strain. Further measures cannot be ruled out if conditions do not improve.