Southeast European day-ahead power prices climbed sharply on 29 October, with most markets moving above €300/MWh. Stronger demand, lower wind output and higher fuel-market costs tightened the balance ahead of the evening peak.
Serbia’s SEEPEX rose €37.4/MWh from the previous session to €330.04/MWh, moving above Hungary and most neighbouring markets. Montenegro gained €46.4/MWh to €312.80/MWh, while North Macedonia increased €41.1/MWh to €325.80/MWh. Albania recorded the region’s highest average, at €366.85/MWh, up €64.8/MWh; Romania settled at €323.76/MWh and Bulgaria at €320.13/MWh.
The rise was widespread, but hourly prices indicate that the main pressure came during the evening rather than across all hours. On SEEPEX, Serbian peak-load electricity averaged €369.7/MWh, and the highest hourly price was €500/MWh at H18. The session’s minimum was €205/MWh, leaving few genuinely low-priced hours in Serbia.
Evening prices drove regional market gains
Montenegro saw a steeper evening increase. BELEN’s base price reached €312.80/MWh, while peak-load power averaged €347.4/MWh. The maximum hourly price rose to €555.1/MWh at H18, compared with €400/MWh a day earlier.
Albania was at the upper end of the tightening market, with ALPEX averaging €366.9/MWh. Peak power reached €392.2/MWh, and the evening high was €600/MWh at H18. The concentration of the highest prices around H18 in Serbia, Montenegro and Albania reflected the same regional pattern: conditions tightened substantially as solar generation faded while evening demand remained high.
Regional consumption was forecast to average 34,054 MW, 740 MW higher than the previous day, and net imports were forecast to rise by 196 MW to 3,886 MW. Solar output was expected to increase by 360 MW, but wind generation was forecast to fall by 436 MW, reducing a key source of flexible renewable supply later in the day. The additional solar generation did little to restrain the daily average because much of it arrives during more comfortable system hours, while lower wind output has greater impact after solar generation declines.
Greece retained a lower daily average
Greece remained the clear exception, with HENEX averaging €238.80/MWh. That left Greek electricity almost €86/MWh below Hungary and more than €91/MWh below Serbia. The Greek hourly minimum fell to €32.3/MWh around H10 before the market reached a maximum of €450/MWh at H18.
The Greek price profile showed very low costs around midday in a solar-heavy market, followed by an abrupt evening repricing. Greece therefore maintained a large daily discount to the northern Balkans despite facing the same evening tightening.
Central European prices moved closer to those in Southeast Europe. Hungarian HUPX rose €21.2/MWh to €324.58/MWh, while Germany increased by €65.6/MWh to €314.85/MWh. The Hungary-Germany spread narrowed by around €44/MWh in one session, to €9.73/MWh.
Germany’s hourly maximum reached €559.6/MWh and HUPX peaked at €526.8/MWh, with both markets reaching their highs around the evening ramp. This largely removed the large Hungarian premium to Germany seen in previous sessions. Romania and Bulgaria traded €0.82/MWh and €4.45/MWh, respectively, below HUPX, while Serbia retained a €5.46/MWh premium to Hungary, indicating a slightly tighter balance in Serbia and the western Balkans than in Central Europe after the rally.
Italian supply and forward prices
Italy provided another price counterweight, with its national day-ahead price at €278.47/MWh. That was around €46/MWh below Hungary and more than €34/MWh below Montenegro. Net electricity entering the wider Southeast European balance from Italy rose by 147 MW to around 593 MW, consistent with the economic incentive to move lower-priced Italian electricity towards the tighter Balkan market.
Forward prices also rose, indicating that traders were not treating the day-ahead rally as an isolated move. Hungarian Week 45 power gained €8.5/MWh to €315.50/MWh, Week 46 increased €7.5/MWh to €304.50/MWh, and the November contract rose €13/MWh to €295.50/MWh. Fuel and carbon costs also increased: CEGH gas rose €4.8/MWh to €102.05/MWh, EU carbon allowances reached €89.1/t CO2, and November coal advanced to €147.5/t.
The regional price pattern showed Greece retaining a renewable discount during solar hours and Italy acting as a lower-priced western supply source. Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and North Macedonia clustered around €320–330/MWh, while Albania could move sharply above the rest of the region when its balance tightened. For Serbia and Montenegro, the widening difference between midday and evening prices was a key feature: electricity was available in the region, but not always in the right market, across the right border or during the right hour.
That imbalance, rather than simple annual energy scarcity, was becoming the defining price signal for Southeast European power trading.