Ford Otosan's automobile factory in Craiova and Renault Group's Dacia plant in Pitesti are set to resume production as Romania faces increased pressure on its electricity system following the shutdown of nuclear capacity at Cernavoda.

The Ford plant will restart after bringing forward its annual maintenance shutdown at the beginning of the year, partly to ease pressure on electricity consumption, according to Profit.ro. Dacia's Pitesti factory is scheduled to resume operations on August 25.

The restart comes as Romania has stopped operations at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant due to low Danube water levels. The Ministry of Energy has said that limiting electricity consumption by large industrial consumers in tranches between 19:00 and 23:00 remains the last measure in the hierarchy of interventions, but has not ruled it out.

Under Transelectrica's regulation on consumption restrictions, the machine-building industry is included in tranches one and two, among the sectors that could be affected first, while commercial complexes are included only in tranche four, according to Ziarul Financiar.

The potential economic impact on the Craiova plant would be significant. At an estimated production rate of around 1,300 vehicles a day and an average value of €30,000 per vehicle, a full day of production represents approximately €39mn. A four-hour restriction could affect more than 200 vehicles and around €6.5mn of production on each evening affected. Based on July production, the plant's monthly output had a value of around €700mn.

Ford Otosan said the Craiova shutdown was not an extraordinary measure linked to Romania's energy situation but part of its previously scheduled annual maintenance and holiday programme, according to Turkish media reports.

Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said the Ford and Dacia factories together account for electricity consumption of around 200 MW. Romania's peak electricity consumption between 19:00 and 23:00 is estimated at 7,000-8,000 MW.

The largest individual electricity consumer in Romania is aluminium producer Alro Slatina, whose installed consumption capacity exceeds 900 MW.