Electricity prices in Serbia and Montenegro increased for Tuesday delivery, while Hungary and Romania saw declines. The change coincided with a higher net import requirement for southeastern Europe despite stronger solar output. The regional pricing spread shifted as spot benchmarks moved in different directions across neighbouring markets.
Serbia’s SEEPEX day-ahead price rose by €26.8/MWh to €196.49/MWh, and Montenegro’s BELEN increased by €22.1/MWh to €232.03/MWh. Montenegro’s premium over Serbia widened to €35.54/MWh. The divergence reflected different supply conditions between the two markets.
In Hungary, the HUPX benchmark fell by €7.9/MWh to €224.81/MWh, while Romania’s OPCOM declined by €5.7/MWh to €222.73/MWh. Serbia traded at €28.32/MWh below Hungary, and Montenegro was €7.22/MWh above it. These relative levels framed the regional comparison alongside the Serbia–Montenegro move.
Germany drives the biggest shift in the regional benchmark relationship
The largest change in the regional benchmark relationship came from Germany, where the day-ahead price increased by €45.1/MWh to €201.70/MWh. As a result, Hungary’s premium over Germany narrowed by about €53/MWh to €23.11/MWh. The convergence was attributed to Germany’s price increase rather than a broad easing across southeastern Europe.
Southern market prices continued to diverge. Albania fell by €37.6/MWh to €239.50/MWh, remaining the most expensive market in the reported SEE group, while North Macedonia rose by €36.9/MWh to €182.32/MWh. Greece gained €17.9/MWh to €167.42/MWh, keeping the lowest daily average in the group.
The spread between Albania and Greece stood at €72.08/MWh. Differences of that size can support cross-border trading incentives, although daily average spreads do not indicate whether transmission capacity was available or whether trades captured the full margin.
Other SEE benchmarks and cross-border flow indicators
Bulgaria increased by €3.6/MWh to €207.38/MWh. Slovenia and Croatia posted smaller gains, reaching €220.09/MWh and €221.06/MWh, respectively, while Italy rose by €23.2/MWh to €233.27/MWh. Montenegro traded just €1.24/MWh below the Italian benchmark.
The regional supply balance showed little change in demand but higher reliance on imports. Forecast consumption across the Hungary and SEE aggregate edged up by 33 MW to 29,143 MW, while net imports increased by approximately 309 MW to 2,049 MW, equivalent to about 7% of demand.
Forecast solar generation rose by 857 MW to 6,719 MW, while wind output fell by 587 MW to 1,288 MW. The combined renewable increase of roughly 270 MW coincided with a higher import requirement, indicating that stronger solar output did not remove the need for additional external supply.
The average net inflow through the Austria and Slovakia corridor eased by 20 MW to 1,455 MW. Country balances showed Romania importing 1,514 MW, Croatia importing 1,091 MW