Electricity prices across much of Southeast Europe rose above €200/MWh for Oct. 5 delivery as weekday demand increased and wind production fell. Greece also recorded hours of negative prices during heavy solar output, with prices later rebounding after sunset.
Day-ahead price increases across SEE markets
Hungary’s HUPX day-ahead average increased by €71.90/MWh to €232.76/MWh. Romania climbed by €67.50/MWh to €228.48/MWh, while Croatia reached €219.83/MWh, Slovenia €217.71/MWh, and Bulgaria €203.78/MWh.
Albania recorded the largest rise in the region, increasing by almost €120/MWh to €277.08/MWh. Serbia remained comparatively low at €169.68/MWh, keeping SEEPEX more than €60/MWh below Hungary and Romania.
Demand, wind output, and cross-border flows
Regional electricity demand increased by about 10.6% to 28.7 GW. Forecast wind output declined by around 886 MW, aligning with the move higher in wholesale prices for the day-ahead session.
Net imports into the monitored SEE region rose to roughly 1.64 GW. The gap between Serbia and higher-priced markets reflects limited cross-border capacity, where lower-cost Serbian power does not fully remove premiums when transmission routes are congested or already heavily used.
Greece’s negative-price hours and timing value for flexibility
Greece’s daily average stayed around €148–150/MWh, but solar production pushed prices below zero for almost eight hours. Prices then rebounded sharply after sunset as solar output fell.
The market pattern highlights different timing pressures across countries, with some facing evening scarcity and others experiencing midday renewable oversupply. This supports a commercial premium for flexibility resources including batteries, pumped hydro, flexible demand, and transmission capacity that can move electricity across both time and geography.
The regional system is producing more renewable power, but the value depends on when and where each megawatt is available.