Day-ahead price levels across Southeast Europe
On Sept. 25, most Southeast European day-ahead electricity markets cleared above €200/MWh. Albania led the regional price range at €223.92/MWh, followed by Romania at €219.85/MWh and Hungary at €219.62/MWh. Bulgaria settled at €216.50/MWh, Greece at €213.62/MWh, North Macedonia at €211.32/MWh, Serbia at €207.90/MWh and Croatia at €205.84/MWh. Montenegro remained below the cluster at €190.98/MWh.
Regional price changes and exchange-to-exchange moves
Price movements during the session were uneven across markets. HUPX fell by €19.70/MWh, while Romania dropped by €12.70/MWh. Greece increased by €38/MWh, and Serbia rose by €20.20/MWh. North Macedonia gained €15/MWh, while Albania added €13/MWh.
Generation balance tightens on higher imports
The main driver was a deterioration in the regional generation balance. Electricity consumption across Hungary and Southeast Europe increased to around 29.94 GW, while generation declined by more than 1.2 GW versus the previous day. Net imports rose by 886 MW to 3.57 GW, with imports from the Central European core increasing by more than 500 MW to 2.73 GW.
Wind decline and dispatchable output during the session
The tightening was largely linked to weaker wind generation. Regional wind output fell by almost 1.6 GW to 2.14 GW, representing a decline of more than 40% in a single session. Solar generation also eased to around 5.27 GW. Dispatchable plants increased output but did not fully offset the renewable drop.
Gas-fired generation rose by about 330 MW to 4.43 GW, while hydro increased by around 210 MW to 3.72 GW. Coal output was little changed, and nuclear generation remained broadly stable.
Narrower Hungary–Germany spread alongside import needs
The session also featured a substantial narrowing of the Hungary–Germany differential. German day-ahead power rose to around €176.63/MWh, while HUPX declined to €219.62/MWh. This cut the Hungarian premium to about €43/MWh, down from more than €100/MWh a day earlier.
The compressed spread reduced the immediate price incentive for west-to-east trading, but it did not remove Southeast Europe’s physical requirement for imports.
Country balances: Hungary, Romania, Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria
Hungary remained structurally short, with consumption of about 4.74 GW compared with domestic generation of roughly 3.39 GW. That resulted in net imports of approximately 1.35 GW. Hungary also functioned as both an importing market and a transit point for regional flows.
Romania recorded one of the largest national deficits, with consumption reaching around 5.70 GW. Generation fell to about 4.13 GW, widening net imports to roughly 1.57 GW, from just under 1 GW a day earlier.
The Romanian deficit kept OPCOM closely aligned with HUPX, with only around