Day-ahead electricity prices in Southeast Europe increased for delivery on Monday, 24 August, after demand returned to normal weekday levels following the weekend. Markets including Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Croatia converged around €170/MWh. Prices in Montenegro and Albania moved in opposite directions, reflecting divergence between more tightly coupled central markets and less liquid peripheral systems.
Hungary’s HUPX baseload settled at €170.26/MWh, up €61/MWh day on day. Romania cleared at €170.37/MWh, Bulgaria at €169.70/MWh, Slovenia at €169.66/MWh and Croatia at €169.45/MWh, leaving the five-market cluster separated by less than €1/MWh. Greece followed at €167.55/MWh.
SEEPEX in Serbia remained lower, settling at €159.90/MWh, which was €10.37/MWh below Hungary. North Macedonia cleared at €155.77/MWh and Albania at €144.15/MWh. Montenegro moved higher with BELEN averaging €186.69/MWh, while Italy was the highest major neighbouring market at €192.76/MWh.
Germany settled at €143.18/MWh, leaving Hungary at a premium of roughly €27/MWh versus the German market.
Demand and generation shift net import needs
The increase in Monday prices coincided with a return of weekday consumption patterns. Aggregate HU+SEE demand rose by 3.64 GW from Sunday to 32.72 GW, while generation recovered to approximately 30.52 GW. The resulting balance left the region structurally short and requiring around 2.19 GW of net imports.
Imports from the Austria-Slovakia direction reached approximately 2.91 GW, while the region exported about 1.13 GW toward Italy. Solar output increased by almost 2.4 GW day on day, while wind generation was broadly unchanged.
The higher photovoltaic contribution supported lower pricing during the middle of the day despite the overall demand recovery.
Intraday volatility concentrates around evening hours
The hourly price profile moved more sharply than baseload levels across the market area. On HUPX, prices fell to €85/MWh at H14 before rising to €257.5/MWh at H21.
Hungarian peak power averaged €146.9/MWh versus an off-peak average of €193.7/MWh, indicating that conventional peak and off-peak products were less aligned with the intraday pattern observed on Monday.
Coupled markets showed similar ranges: Romania traded between €84.3/MWh and €259.6/MWh, Bulgaria between €84.4/MWh and €258.7/MWh, and Greece reached a maximum of €258.7/MWh. Croatia recorded a maximum of €242.8/MWh.
The intraday structure was linked to solar output during daytime hours and a steep rise as photovoltaic production declined while demand stayed elevated into the evening period.
Hungary’s supply mix relies on cross-border flows
Hungarian demand averaged approximately 4.30 GW against domestic generation of about 3.21 GW, resulting in average net imports near 1.08 GW for Monday trading hours.
Slovakia remained the largest source of imports into Hungary, with Austria also supplying electricity to the Hungarian market. At the same time, Hungary exported toward Croatia, Serbia and other neighbouring markets as hourly flow patterns changed.
During peak hours, Hungary’s aggregate cross-border balance was almost neutral at around 12 MW of net imports, while off-peak net imports exceeded 2.15 GW.
Serbia remains short but priced below the regional cluster
Serbia also stayed physically short while its wholesale price remained below the central European cluster level seen across core markets. Domestic demand averaged 3.79 GW against generation of around 3.26 GW, creating a net import requirement of approximately 522 MW.
Serbia imported mainly from Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Hungary and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while smaller export flows moved toward Montenegro and Romania.
The spread between SEEPEX at €159.90/MWh and HUPX at €170.26/MWh was €10.37/MWh for Monday delivery.
Greece shifts back to net exports
Greece returned to a net export position on Monday after being a net importer on Sunday by around 256 MW. On Monday, demand increased to approximately 7.50 GW while domestic generation reached around 8.06 GW.
This produced net exports of roughly 563 MW directed mainly toward Italy, North Macedonia and Albania, with some electricity continuing to flow into Greece from Bulgaria.
Greek exports during peak hours approached 1 GW and helped keep HENEX slightly below the tightly coupled Hungary-Romania-Bulgaria price cluster despite strong cooling-related demand.
Montenegro basis diverges from regional pricing; Albania stays low
Montenegro recorded the clearest local divergence within Southeast Europe’s pricing set for Monday delivery. BELEN baseload settled at €186.69/MWh, higher than most neighbouring markets referenced in the same session data.
The hourly profile showed an even wider split: Montenegrin peak power averaged €220.4/MWh and a maximum of €450.2/MWh occurred at H15, while off-peak prices averaged just €153/MWh.
The spike was not reflected across neighbouring markets, indicating a local basis event rather than a region-wide shortage for that hour set.
BELEN-linked physical balance also showed tightness: consumption was around 473 MW against generation of approximately 335 MW for a deficit of about 138 MW.
Albania, by contrast, showed ALPEX settling at only €144.15/MWh, more than €26/MWh below HUPX despite domestic demand of approximately 1.15 GW exceeding generation of around 1.00 GW.
The country therefore required roughly 150 MW of net imports yet remained among the lowest priced markets in the region for Monday delivery.
Forward curve shows weaker prompt pricing; fuel markets firm
The forward curve presented a less bullish picture than spot prices for Monday delivery in Southeast Europe’s reference markets. Hungarian Week 35 power was assessed at €143.50/MWh after falling 8.6% over the reported seven-day period; Germany Week 35 stood at €120/MWh down 7.34% over the same period.
Italy moved higher on Week 35, rising 6.55% to €179/MWh; Week 36 assessments were Hungary at €146.50/MWh, Germany at €126.50/MWh and Italy at €179.50/MWh.
This placed Hungarian front-week power almost €27/MWh below Monday’s HUPX day-ahead price based on the reported assessments for Week 35 versus Monday spot levels.
Austrian CEGH September gas rose by 8.94% over the displayed period and Q4 gas gained 8.06%. API2 September coal increased by 4.1% and Q4 coal by 2.79% over the same period window used for forward comparisons.
Trading focus shifts toward hourly spreads and ramp conditions
The spot rebound on Monday aligned with weekday demand returning alongside more volatile intraday pricing conditions compared with baseload movements alone.
The central markets remained closely coupled at baseload level while trading opportunities were described as shifting toward hourly spreads and peripheral basis positions rather than block products alone.
The evening ramp period covering H19-H22 was highlighted as particularly important as solar output falls and flexible generation and imports become more valuable for balancing needs into later hours.
Monitoring points included the H19-H22 ramp profile, Austria-Slovakia flows into Hungary, the Germany-Hungary price differential, Italy’s premium over Southeast Europe referenced in Monday pricing levels, Serbia’s import requirement of approximately 522 MW, and changes in Montenegro’s local basis given BELEN’s reported hourly divergence versus neighbouring markets.