Southeastern Europe’s day-ahead electricity market increased for 19 August, with the regional move reflecting two different trading patterns. Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Croatia traded close to €168/MWh, while Albania stayed at a premium and Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia priced at discounts. The central SEE corridor showed strong price integration, while peripheral markets were more exposed to local supply and cross-border conditions.
Central SEE base prices cluster near €168/MWh
The HUPX Hungarian base price settled at €167.99/MWh, up €3.5/MWh from the previous session. Romania’s OPCOM reached €168.04/MWh, only €0.06/MWh above HUPX, while Bulgaria’s IBEX settled at €167.72/MWh. Slovenia’s BSP was €167.94/MWh and Croatia’s CROPEX was €167.91/MWh, leaving the five markets separated by just €0.33/MWh.
Germany traded slightly lower at €166.03/MWh and Austria at €167.21/MWh. Italy remained higher at €175.49/MWh, a premium of €7.50/MWh over HUPX. Greece rose by €6.2/MWh to €159.88/MWh, below the central cluster.
Across Hungary and the nine SEE exchanges included in the comparison, the unweighted average base price was approximately €163.93/MWh. The highest-to-lowest spread reached €26.83/MWh, driven by Albania at €178.03/MWh versus Serbia at €151.20/MWh.
Peripheral markets see larger daily gains
The strongest daily increases were recorded in the peripheral markets: Albania gained €25.4/MWh, North Macedonia increased by €19.2/MWh and Serbia by €18.2/MWh. Montenegro rose by a smaller margin of €1.4/MWh to €156.01/MWh.
Relative to HUPX, Serbia was down €16.79/MWh, North Macedonia was down €13.38/MWh and Montenegro was down €11.98/MWh. Albania carried a premium of €10.04/MWh over Hungary.
Demand rises and imports increase into Hungary-SEE
Forecast regional electricity consumption increased to 32,004 MW, up 1,246 MW from the previous day. At the same time, the Hungary-SEE system shifted toward imports, with net imports reaching 1,720 MW compared with approximately -36 MW a day earlier.
Flows from the CORE region, mainly Austria and Slovakia toward Hungary and Slovenia, rose to 2,298 MW, an increase of 1,825 MW. Around 580 MW also flowed toward Italy during the session.
Solar up while wind down in renewable forecasts
Renewable forecasts pointed to higher solar output and lower wind generation for 19 August. Solar output was expected to increase by 1,266 MW to 7,866 MW, while wind generation was forecast to decline by 1,169 MW to just 673 MW.
The changes differed in timing: additional solar generation was concentrated during daylight hours, while reduced wind output affected a wider part of the day and became particularly important after sunset.
Hourly prices show evening peaks after solar disappears
On HUPX, prices ranged from a daily minimum of €127.5/MWh at H14 to a maximum of €214.6/MWh at H21. The base price was €168/MWh, with the conventional peak block averaging €158.3/MWh and off-peak hours averaging €177.7/MWh.
The hourly pattern reflected an evening spike: H21 fell outside the standard daytime peak block and coincided with higher evening demand as solar generation disappeared.
A similar profile appeared across central markets. Romania fell to €127.5/MWh before peaking at €214.7/MWh at H21; Slovenia moved between €127.8/MWh and €209.4/MWh with its high at H21; Bulgaria peaked at €214.4/MWh at H21; Austria reached its high at €209.9/MWh; and Croatia peaked slightly earlier at H20 with €217.3/MWh.
Greece recorded a daytime trough of €100.1/MWh at H10 before rising to €214.4/MWh at H21.
Southeastern Balkan prices remain volatile through intraday ranges
The southern Balkan markets showed stronger swings across the day than central pricing levels. Serbia’s SEEPEX reached €151.20/MWh, with an intraday low of €103.1/MWh at H12 and a maximum of €215/MWh at H20.
Montenegro averaged €156.01/MWh, falling to €100.1/MWh before reaching €220/MWh at H20.
North Macedonia averaged €154.6/MWh, with a minimum of €90/MWh and a maximum of €226.3/MWh.