On 17 June 2026, the South East Europe (SEE) day-ahead power session showed higher prices across most regional hubs alongside stronger demand and increased thermal generation. Hungary’s HUPX base price increased to €123.79/MWh, up €8.3/MWh day-on-day, while Romania reached €121.48/MWh. Bulgaria and Greece traded around €119.3/MWh, Slovenia at €118.09/MWh, and Croatia at €118.72/MWh. Italy remained the highest reference market at €134.54/MWh, holding a €10.75/MWh premium over HUPX.
Serbia was the main outlier in the regional pricing set. The SEEPEX day-ahead price fell to €83.87/MWh, down €14.8/MWh, widening the discount versus Hungary to €39.92/MWh. In the lower end of the Balkan cluster, Albania traded at €99.68/MWh, Montenegro at €103.74/MWh, and North Macedonia at €97.20/MWh. These levels were below Central SEE benchmarks.
Demand, temperature and cross-border balances
Regional consumption rose to 29,444 MW, up 1,200 MW day-on-day, with average temperatures increasing to 21.8°C across SEE and Hungary. Greece recorded an average temperature of 24.9°C. The system shifted back to a net import position of 611 MW, compared with net exports on the previous day.
Cross-border movements reflected the changing balance. Inflows from the CORE region (AT+SK) increased sharply to 1,544 MW. Flows toward Italy remained negative at -841 MW, indicating continued export pressure toward the Italian market.
Generation mix shifts as wind output weakens
Total generation increased to 28,437 MW, up 1,359 MW day-on-day. Solar output stayed high at 6,792 MW, while hydro improved to 6,084 MW. Coal rose to 4,841 MW, gas increased to 4,473 MW, and nuclear climbed to 4,829 MW.
The main weakness was wind generation, which dropped to just 685 MW, down 329 MW. With wind lower during non-solar hours, thermal generation was used more heavily, supporting higher evening price sensitivity and raising overall system marginal cost.
Intraday price pattern across regional exchanges
The session’s intraday structure followed a summer pattern driven by solar output and later-day demand changes. Midday solar production continued to suppress intraday prices, while reduced wind output combined with higher demand pushed gas and coal higher in the merit order during evening ramp periods.
This contributed to stronger baseload pricing and volatility around peak hours across trading platforms including HUPX, OPCOM, BSP and HENEX. Hungary’s intraday range showed a minimum around €51.7/MWh and a maximum close to €192.9/MWh.
Bilateral flows show Bulgaria exporting while Serbia imports
The cross-border flow picture pointed to continued regional segmentation during the session. Bulgaria was the largest net exporter at approximately 1,295 MW, supporting supply across eastern SEE.
Croatia imported around 1,153 MW, Serbia about 508 MW, Hungary roughly 509 MW, and Romania approximately 248 MW. Greece stayed close to balance with a small export position of around 33 MW.
Fuel costs steady while forward curves rise in Hungary-Germany spread context
Fuel and carbon signals eased slightly despite higher spot electricity prices. CEGH gas was at €43.58/MWh, Greek gas at €42.05/MWh, and EUAs at €79.85/t.