Southeast European day-ahead power markets moved back towards a tighter regional price range on 1 September, led by a sharp rebound in Serbia as stronger consumption increased import requirements across the region despite higher renewable and thermal generation.
Serbian SEEPEX baseload surged €34.04/MWh day on day to €166.25/MWh, cutting its discount to Hungarian HUPX to €10.49/MWh. A day earlier, Serbia had traded more than €41/MWh below Hungary, making the latest move the strongest price correction among the main SEE markets.
Hungary remained firm at €176.74/MWh, up €3.33/MWh, while Romania settled at €177.28/MWh. Bulgaria and Greece were closely aligned at €174.59/MWh and €174.68/MWh, respectively.
The eastern SEE markets therefore formed a relatively compact €174-177/MWh price cluster, with Serbia moving significantly closer to that level.
Further west and south, however, discounts remained substantial. Croatia eased to €170.05/MWh and Slovenia to €168.53/MWh, while Montenegro dropped to €158.50/MWh. North Macedonia remained the lowest-priced monitored market at €148.46/MWh.
The spread between Hungary and North Macedonia widened to more than €28/MWh, while Montenegro traded around €18/MWh below HUPX, maintaining attractive northbound trading economics where cross-border capacity was available.
The principal bullish signal came from demand.
Regional electricity consumption increased by around 2.4 GW day on day to 33.27 GW, while total imports rose by approximately 614 MW to 2.87 GW. Imports from the Central European core increased by around 708 MW to 3.58 GW.
Higher imports were required even though total regional generation increased by roughly 1.1 GW to 28.61 GW.
Solar output rose almost 1 GW to 5.86 GW, while hydro generation increased by 309 MW to 4.80 GW. Gas-fired generation climbed to 4.49 GW, coal output reached 6.33 GW, and nuclear generation increased to 4.37 GW. Wind production slipped slightly to around 1.10 GW.
The figures suggest that the demand increase absorbed most of the additional domestic generation, tightening the regional balance and increasing dependence on imports.
The Hungary-Germany spread meanwhile narrowed sharply to around €32.94/MWh, from more than €61/MWh in the previous session, after German prices climbed to €143.80/MWh.
The contraction reduced the extreme east-west price divergence seen at the end of August, although Hungary continued to carry a sizeable premium over Germany.
Forward markets also strengthened. Hungarian Week 37 rose to €175.50/MWh, Week 38 to €179.50/MWh, while October increased to €181/MWh. Austrian CEGH gas around €69/MWh and EUA carbon near €83/t continued to support elevated thermal generation costs.
The latest session points to regional reconvergence rather than a uniform SEE rally.
Serbia’s sharp correction removed much of the exceptional discount seen on 31 August, bringing SEEPEX closer to Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Montenegro and North Macedonia remain the principal discounted markets, leaving meaningful cross-border optionality where capacity can be secured.
Near-term upside risk remains concentrated in the evening and low-renewable hours. With regional load above 33 GW, import requirements rising and gas-linked marginal costs elevated, a reduction in solar output or available cross-border capacity could quickly push the central SEE cluster back above €180/MWh.
For traders, the key signal is therefore shifting from outright regional price direction towards border availability and hourly spread capture, particularly across the Serbia-Hungary, Serbia-Romania and southern Balkan corridors.