Romania had the highest average day-ahead power price among the seven major Southeast European markets monitored by the Institute of Energy for South-East Europe (IENE) in the week ended November 1. The average reached €287.26/MWh, even as the country’s net electricity imports fell sharply. The price was the highest in the region for the period.
Romania’s average exceeded Serbia’s €286.55/MWh by €0.71/MWh and Hungary’s €284.63/MWh by €2.63/MWh. Combined wind and solar generation declined by 34.3% week on week, while electricity demand rose by 1.58%. Hydropower output increased by 15.04%, partly offsetting weaker renewable generation, while thermal generation fell by 2.32%. Net electricity imports dropped by 66.32% to 48.20 GWh.
Prices and imports reflect different market conditions
The combination of higher wholesale prices and lower import volumes challenges the assumption that Romania’s price increase was driven primarily by greater reliance on imported electricity. IENE’s data do not separately account for nuclear generation, power plant availability, intraday transmission constraints or the marginal generation technology that determined hourly market prices. A decline in aggregate weekly imports does not necessarily mean lower electricity prices, particularly when supply and demand remain tight across neighbouring markets.
For electricity market participants, Romania’s performance highlights the need to distinguish physical electricity flows from spot price formation. Weekly net imports reflect the overall national supply-demand balance, whereas day-ahead prices respond to market conditions in individual delivery hours and bidding zones. Romania was the region’s most expensive market despite substantially lower net imports, underscoring the relevance of hourly generation patterns, power plant availability and cross-border interconnection capacity.