Trading on Hungary’s HUPX day-ahead market increased to 2.52 TWh in July 2026, even as the monthly baseload price declined to €122.35/MWh.
Day-ahead volume rose 8.6% from 2.38 TWh in June, although it remained 7% below the 2.71 TWh recorded in July 2025. The average baseload price fell 1.9% from €124.67/MWh, while the average peak price decreased 0.8% to €89.51/MWh.
The unusual discount of peak power to baseload reflects the growing impact of solar generation. Hungary’s rapidly expanding photovoltaic fleet pushes prices lower during traditional daytime peak hours, while evening and overnight periods increasingly carry the higher marginal cost of imports, gas-fired generation and system balancing.
Intraday continuous trading reached 1.294 TWh, an increase of 13.1% from June. Intraday growth is becoming particularly important as traders, suppliers and renewable generators adjust positions closer to delivery in response to changing solar forecasts, unplanned outages and cross-border capacity.
HUPX registered 130 day-ahead members, six more than in June, alongside 125 intraday participants. A broader membership base improves competition and strengthens the exchange’s role as the principal price reference for Hungary and parts of Southeast Europe.
Hungary remains structurally dependent on imported electricity. On 7 August, forecast domestic generation covered only 2,549 MW of consumption of 5,229 MW, leaving average net imports of 2,680 MW. More than half of national demand was therefore supplied from neighbouring systems.
This dependence produces a distinctive price formation mechanism. Low-cost German and Austrian electricity can depress Hungarian prices when cross-border capacity is available, but congestion rapidly restores a substantial premium. The Hungary-Germany day-ahead spread stood at €35.85/MWh, while Week 33 and Week 34 forward spreads were €43/MWh and €39.50/MWh.
The July volume figures show that HUPX liquidity is increasing at the same time as Hungary’s hourly price profile becomes more volatile. The market now has a pronounced midday trough and evening ramp, creating stronger incentives for battery storage, demand response and flexible gas generation.
Average monthly prices alone increasingly understate this commercial transformation. The central value is migrating from undifferentiated baseload energy towards hourly flexibility, congestion management and the ability to shift electricity between solar-rich daytime periods and import-constrained evening hours.