Romania recorded the highest average day-ahead electricity price in Southeast Europe among the seven major markets monitored by the Institute of Energy for South-East Europe (IENE) in the week ended November 1. The average price reached €287.26/MWh, despite a substantial decline in the country’s net electricity imports.
Romania’s average price was €0.71/MWh higher than Serbia’s €286.55/MWh and €2.63/MWh above Hungary’s €284.63/MWh. Over the same period, combined wind and solar generation fell by 34.3% week on week, while electricity demand increased by 1.58%. Hydropower production rose by 15.04%, partly compensating for weaker renewable output. Thermal generation, however, declined by 2.32%, while net electricity imports dropped by 66.32% to 48.20 GWh.
The simultaneous increase in wholesale electricity prices and reduction in import volumes suggests that Romania’s price rise was not simply the result of greater dependence on imported power. IENE’s figures do not separately detail nuclear generation, power plant availability, intraday transmission constraints or the marginal generation technology determining hourly market prices. Nevertheless, lower aggregate imports do not automatically translate into cheaper electricity, particularly when supply-demand conditions remain tight across neighbouring markets.
For electricity market participants, Romania’s performance highlights the importance of distinguishing between physical electricity flows and wholesale price formation. Weekly net imports reflect the overall national supply-demand balance, whereas day-ahead prices are determined by market conditions during individual delivery hours and across bidding zones. Romania’s position as the region’s most expensive market, despite significantly lower net imports, underlines the need to examine hourly generation patterns, power plant availability and cross-border interconnection capacity when assessing regional electricity price movements.
