Southeast European wholesale electricity prices increased across all monitored markets in the week ended November 1, as stronger electricity demand and declining renewable generation in several countries drove greater reliance on conventional power plants. The simple average across seven regional markets, excluding Turkey, climbed by 9.97% to €275.75/MWh, according to the Institute of Energy for South-East Europe (IENE).
Romania recorded the highest average day-ahead price at €287.26/MWh, followed closely by Serbia at €286.55/MWh, Hungary at €284.63/MWh and Bulgaria at €284.10/MWh. The difference between these four markets was just €3.16/MWh, highlighting their increasingly aligned price movements. Greece remained the least expensive market at €255.04/MWh, while Croatia registered the sharpest weekly increase, with prices rising 14.30% to €270.92/MWh. The spread between the highest and lowest regional prices narrowed to €32.22/MWh, compared with €39.36/MWh a week earlier.
The underlying electricity supply-demand balance indicates growing pressure across regional power markets. Excluding Turkey, electricity consumption increased by approximately 2.24%, while combined wind and solar generation declined by around 1.1%. Hydropower output fell by approximately 4.4%, whereas thermal generation increased by about 6.5%. Bulgaria and Serbia recorded particularly strong consumption growth, while higher natural gas prices added further pressure in markets relying on flexible gas-fired power plants.
The latest figures point to broader tightening of electricity market conditions across Southeast Europe, rather than an isolated supply shortage in an individual country. However, regional price averages do not provide sufficient detail to quantify transmission congestion, balancing costs or the marginal generation technology determining hourly market-clearing prices. For electricity traders, suppliers and industrial consumers, the more important signal is the combination of elevated wholesale prices, increasingly correlated national markets and greater exposure to generation availability and cross-border electricity flows as the region approaches the winter season.
