Albania recorded the highest day-ahead electricity price in Southeast Europe on 29 October, at €366.85/MWh, as most regional markets moved above €300/MWh. Regional day-ahead power prices rose amid stronger demand, lower wind output and expensive fuel markets ahead of the evening peak. Albania’s average increased by €64.8 from the previous session, while Serbia’s SEEPEX gained €37.4/MWh to €330.04/MWh. North Macedonia rose €41.1 to €325.80/MWh, and Montenegro climbed €46.4 to €312.80/MWh.
Romania settled at €323.76/MWh and Bulgaria at €320.13/MWh, while Serbia traded above Hungary and most neighbouring markets. The increase was widespread, but hourly prices indicate that evening scarcity, rather than a uniform rise throughout the day, drove the sharpest moves. On SEEPEX, Serbian peak-load power averaged €369.7/MWh and reached €500/MWh at H18. Even the session low was €205/MWh, leaving Serbia with few genuinely cheap hours.
Montenegro’s BELEN recorded a base price of €312.80/MWh and a peak-load price of €347.4/MWh. Its highest hourly price rose to €555.1/MWh at H18, compared with a maximum of €400/MWh a day earlier. Albania’s ALPEX averaged €366.9/MWh, with peak-load power at €392.2/MWh and an evening maximum of €600/MWh at H18. The matching H18 peaks in Serbia, Montenegro and Albania show how much tighter the regional balance became as solar generation faded while evening demand remained high.
Demand and generation reshape hourly prices
Regional consumption was forecast to average 34,054 MW, an increase of 740 MW from the previous day. Net imports were up 196 MW at 3,886 MW. Forecast solar output increased by 360 MW, but wind generation fell by 436 MW, reducing a source of flexible renewable supply later in the day. The additional photovoltaic generation did little to hold down daily averages because much of it arrived during relatively comfortable hours, whereas the wind reduction mattered more after solar output disappeared.
Greece was the clear exception to the region’s high daily averages, with HENEX at €238.80/MWh. That put Greek electricity almost €86/MWh below Hungary and more than €91/MWh below Serbia. Its hourly low fell to €32.3/MWh around H10 before the price reached €450/MWh at H18. The profile reflected very cheap electricity around midday in a solar-heavy market, followed by sharp evening repricing and a substantial daily discount to the northern Balkans despite the same evening tightening.
Central European prices converge
Central European markets moved closer to Southeast European prices during the session. Hungary’s HUPX rose €21.2/MWh to €324.58/MWh, while Germany gained a larger €65.6/MWh to €314.85/MWh. The Hungary-Germany spread narrowed by around €44/MWh in one session to €9.73/MWh, largely removing the sizeable Hungarian premium seen in previous sessions. German hourly prices peaked at €559.6/MWh and HUPX at €526.8/MWh, both around the evening ramp.
Romania traded just €0.82/MWh below HUPX, and Bulgaria was €4.45/MWh below it. Serbia retained a €5.46/MWh premium to Hungary, indicating a slightly tighter balance in Serbia and the western Balkans even after the Central European rally. Italy, meanwhile, provided a lower-priced counterweight: its national day-ahead price was €278.47/MWh, around €46/MWh below Hungary and more than €34/MWh below Montenegro. Net electricity entering the wider Southeast European balance from Italy rose 147 MW to around 593 MW, consistent with the incentive to move lower-priced Italian power towards the tighter Balkan market.
Forward contracts and fuel costs rise
Forward prices also rose, indicating that traders did not treat the day-ahead increase as an isolated event. Hungarian Week 45 power gained €8.5/MWh to €315.50/MWh, Week 46 added €7.5 to €304.50/MWh, and the November contract rose €13/MWh to €295.50/MWh. Fuel and carbon costs increased alongside them: CEGH gas climbed €4.8/MWh to €102.05/MWh, EU carbon allowances reached €89.1/t, and November coal advanced to €147.5/t.
The regional price structure remained distinct despite the convergence around €320–330/MWh in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and North Macedonia. Greece retained a renewable-driven discount during solar hours, while Italy was a lower-priced western supply source. Albania could move sharply above the rest of the region when its balance tightened. For Serbia and Montenegro, the wider gap between midday and evening prices showed that electricity was available, but not always in the right market, across the right border or at the right hour; that hourly imbalance, rather than annual energy scarcity alone, was becoming a defining signal for Southeast European power trading.