Southeast European day-ahead power markets moved back towards a tighter regional price range on 1 September, with Serbia leading the adjustment as stronger electricity demand increased import requirements across the region despite higher renewable and thermal generation.
Serbian SEEPEX baseload jumped €34.04/MWh day on day to €166.25/MWh, sharply reducing its discount to Hungarian HUPX to €10.49/MWh. Just one session earlier, Serbia had traded more than €41/MWh below Hungary, making the latest move the strongest price correction among the main Southeast European markets.
Hungarian prices remained firm at €176.74/MWh, up €3.33/MWh, while Romania settled at €177.28/MWh. Bulgaria and Greece were closely aligned, clearing at €174.59/MWh and €174.68/MWh, respectively.
The eastern part of the SEE market therefore formed a relatively tight €174-177/MWh price cluster, with Serbia moving considerably closer to the regional benchmark range.
Further west and south, however, price discounts remained significant. Croatia declined to €170.05/MWh and Slovenia to €168.53/MWh, while Montenegro fell to €158.50/MWh. North Macedonia remained the lowest-priced monitored market at €148.46/MWh.
The spread between Hungary and North Macedonia widened to more than €28/MWh, while Montenegro traded roughly €18/MWh below HUPX, preserving attractive northbound trading opportunities where cross-border transmission capacity was available.
The main bullish signal during the session came from stronger electricity demand.
Regional power consumption increased by around 2.4 GW day on day to 33.27 GW, while total net imports rose by approximately 614 MW to 2.87 GW. Imports from the Central European core increased by around 708 MW, reaching 3.58 GW.
Higher imports were required despite a significant increase in regional electricity generation, which rose by roughly 1.1 GW to 28.61 GW.
Solar generation increased by nearly 1 GW to 5.86 GW, while hydro output rose by 309 MW to 4.80 GW. Gas-fired generation reached 4.49 GW, coal output climbed to 6.33 GW, and nuclear production increased to 4.37 GW. Wind generation declined slightly to around 1.10 GW.
The data indicate that stronger demand absorbed most of the additional domestic generation, tightening the overall regional supply-demand balance and increasing dependence on cross-border imports.
Meanwhile, the Hungary-Germany price spread narrowed sharply to around €32.94/MWh, compared with more than €61/MWh in the previous session, after German day-ahead prices climbed to €143.80/MWh.
The narrowing spread reduced the extreme east-west divergence seen at the end of August, although Hungary continued to trade at a substantial premium to Germany.
Forward markets also moved higher. Hungarian Week 37 rose to €175.50/MWh, Week 38 increased to €179.50/MWh, while October traded near €181/MWh. Austrian CEGH gas prices around €69/MWh and EUA carbon prices close to €83/t continued to support elevated thermal generation costs.
The latest trading session points to regional price reconvergence rather than a broad-based SEE rally.
Serbia’s sharp correction eliminated much of the exceptional discount seen on 31 August, bringing SEEPEX significantly closer to price levels in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Montenegro and North Macedonia remain the region’s main discounted markets, preserving meaningful cross-border trading optionality where transmission capacity can be secured.
Near-term upside risk remains concentrated in the evening and low-renewable generation hours. With regional demand above 33 GW, import requirements increasing and gas-linked marginal generation costs remaining elevated, a decline in solar production or reduced cross-border capacity could quickly push the central SEE price cluster back above €180/MWh.
For traders, the key market signal is therefore shifting away from outright regional price direction and towards border availability and hourly spread opportunities, particularly across the Serbia-Hungary, Serbia-Romania and southern Balkan trading corridors.
