Serbia’s electricity consumption increased 8.38% to 699.41 GWh in the week ended November 1, marking one of the strongest gains in Southeast Europe. Data from the Institute of Energy for South-East Europe (IENE) show that higher demand and weaker wind and solar generation put greater pressure on conventional power production and electricity imports. Combined wind and solar output fell by 29.4% week on week, while thermal generation rose by 9.06%.
Net electricity imports increased by 3.71%. Serbia’s weekly average day-ahead electricity price was €286.55/MWh, just €0.71/MWh below Romania’s, the highest in the region. These changes in generation and imports occurred alongside elevated spot market prices.
Day-ahead prices varied sharply during the week
Price movements were pronounced on the Serbian market during the week. The SEEPEX daily average reached €330.04/MWh on October 29, then fell to €261.47/MWh on November 1. The variation highlights the limitations of using annual or monthly average prices to assess electricity procurement costs, particularly for industrial consumers exposed to day-ahead market fluctuations.
Import data do not establish the cause of the increase
The generation and trading data do not show whether higher imports resulted from power plant outages, commercial optimisation or other operational factors. Overall, higher consumption, a sharp decline in variable renewable generation and increased thermal output coincided with elevated spot market prices, pointing to growing pressure on Serbia’s electricity system.
For industrial consumers, electricity suppliers and lenders, these developments underline the importance of assessing hourly consumption and procurement profiles, physical hedging arrangements, collateral requirements and contracted supply availability. As winter approaches, managing exposure to short-term market volatility will become increasingly important, beyond monitoring headline wholesale electricity prices.