Serbia’s electricity consumption rose by 8.38% to 699.41 GWh in the week ended November 1, one of the strongest increases in Southeast Europe. Higher demand, alongside weaker wind and solar generation, put more pressure on conventional power production and electricity imports, according to the Institute of Energy for South-East Europe (IENE). The increase in electricity consumption was accompanied by changes in both generation and trade.
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, which had the region’s highest price.
Day-ahead prices varied during the week
Price movements were pronounced across the week. The SEEPEX daily average reached €330.04/MWh on October 29, then fell to €261.47/MWh on November 1. The variation shows the limitations of using annual or monthly average prices to assess electricity procurement costs, particularly for industrial consumers exposed to day-ahead market fluctuations.
The generation and trading data do not establish whether the rise in imports resulted from power plant outages, commercial optimisation or other operational factors. However, 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, the developments highlight 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 alone.