Monday’s day-ahead power pricing in Southeast Europe showed a rebound across the north-western corridor, with HUPX setting the tone for 22 June. Hungary’s HUPX day-ahead baseload settled at €125.41/MWh, up €40.6/MWh versus the previous day. Romania’s OPCOM followed at €124.05/MWh, while Slovenia’s BSP and Croatia’s CROPEX cleared at €124.63/MWh and €124.65/MWh, respectively. The narrow spreads left the north-western SEE corridor effectively coupled with the Hungarian hub for the session.
Southern Balkan prices remain lower than the north-western corridor
The southern part of the region traded significantly cheaper than Hungary and its closest neighbours. Greece’s HENEX settled at €82.87/MWh, Bulgaria’s IBEX at €91.50/MWh, Serbia’s SEEPEX at €90.14/MWh, Albania’s ALPEX at €93.95/MWh, and Montenegro’s BELEN at €106.03/MWh. The Hungarian premium over Greece widened to €42.54/MWh. HUPX also traded above Serbia by €35.27/MWh and above Bulgaria by €33.91/MWh.
Demand recovery and transmission deliverability shape the split
The price divergence coincided with a Monday demand recovery alongside uneven transmission deliverability across the region. Forecast SEE and Hungary consumption rose by 3,970 MW day on day to 31,181 MW. The largest demand blocks were concentrated in Romania and Bulgaria combined at 9,325 MW, followed by Slovenia and Croatia at 9,456 MW, Greece at 6,254 MW, and Hungary at 4,781 MW. Net positions also pointed away from a simple import-led scarcity signal.
For the SEE plus Hungary region, net imports were reported at -475 MW, indicating a net export position on the aggregate balance. That represented a day-on-day swing of 884 MW away from imports. Core inflows from Austria and Slovakia into the Hungary–Slovenia area fell to 460 MW, down 1,095 MW from the previous day.
Italy stays priced above HUPX amid cross-border capacity availability
In the wider comparison, Italy remained the premium market for day-ahead power. The Italian day-ahead price settled at €141.81/MWh, or €16.40/MWh above HUPX. This maintained export incentives toward Italy where cross-border capacity was available. The comparison was especially relevant against lower-priced Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia.
Hourly profile and generation mix point to solar-led midday compression
The hourly pattern followed a summer-shaped curve across the market data provided for HUPX-linked trading areas. HUPX bottomed at €32.3/MWh in hour 14 before rising to €274.8/MWh in hour 21. Similar evening ramps were visible in Romania, Slovenia and Croatia. The intraday structure reflected solar-led midday compression followed by evening scarcity as photovoltaic output faded and residual load increased.
Total generation in the reported regional balance decreased by 900 MW day on day to 26,801 MW. Solar output rose to 5,691 MW, while hydro declined to 5,168 MW. Gas slipped to 3,908 MW, coal stood at 4,206 MW, wind increased slightly to 2,230 MW, and nuclear remained broadly stable at 5,059 MW. Solar accounted for around 21%
Serbia diverges on pricing; forward curves firm for Hungary
