SEEPEX power price hits 234.31 euros in October, up 56.2%
Serbia's SEEPEX exchange averaged 234.31 euros per megawatt-hour in October, with peak hours at 229.17. The November 3 day-ahead price of 305.14 euros topped Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.
A megawatt-hour of electricity on the Serbian power exchange SEEPEX cost an average of 234.31 euros in October, according to data the exchange published on November 3. That is 56.2% more than in September, when the average baseload price was about 150 euros by our calculation, working backward from the published increase.
What do the October figures from the day-ahead market show?
The average peak-hour price was 229.17 euros per megawatt-hour, 73.8% above September. Peak prices therefore rose faster than baseload, but in October they still stayed 5.14 euros below it (our calculation from the two published figures).
On the day-ahead market, 579,308 megawatt-hours were traded, roughly the same as in September and 13.2% more than in October last year. The daily average was 18,687 megawatt-hours. Volumes on the intraday market were far smaller: 3,356.1 megawatt-hours at an average price of 179.13 euros, below the day-ahead average.
SEEPEX is jointly owned by Elektromreza Srbije, the transmission system operator, and the European exchange EPEX SPOT. The day-ahead market has operated since 2016 and the intraday market since 2023.
How much did power cost in the November 3 data?
The baseload price in Serbia was 305.14 euros per megawatt-hour, 11 euros above the previous day. The peak-hour average was 341.4 euros and the daily maximum 374.5 euros. The seven-day average baseload price is 296.9 euros, so this figure sits above it. Against the October average the gap is 70.83 euros, or 30.2% (our calculation, comparing a single day with a monthly average).
Reports on the figure do not state the exact delivery day to which the 305.14 euro price applies. They say only that the price rose on November 3.
How does the region compare?
Day-ahead prices on the same date, in euros per megawatt-hour:
- Albania: 313.65 (up 53.7)
- Serbia: 305.14 (up 11)
- North Macedonia: 302.97 (up 9.3)
- Montenegro: 302.80 (up 15.5)
- Hungary, HUPX exchange: 297.53 (down 13.1)
- Romania: 297.00
- Bulgaria: 296.65
- Greece: 267.32 (down 45.4)
- Germany: 252.85
Serbia was 7.60 euros more expensive than the Hungarian exchange, Montenegro 5.26, North Macedonia 5.43 and Albania more than 16 euros. Greece was 30.21 euros below Hungary, while Hungary was 44.69 euros above Germany. Against the German price, Serbia paid 52.29 euros more that day (our calculation). Energy news portals that carried the data explain the gap by saying local supply and demand, together with cross-border capacity, matter more than the shared regional generation signal.
In Montenegro, the price on the BELEN exchange rose from 287.3 to 302.8 euros, the peak-hour average was 337 euros and the highest daily price 365 euros.
What pushed prices up?
The reports cite higher consumption and weaker solar output as the reasons for the rise:
- average regional consumption rose by 459 megawatts, to 35,116 megawatts
- solar generation fell by 559 megawatts, to 1,318 megawatts
- net imports rose by 204 megawatts, to 4,019 megawatts, of which imports from the direction of Austria and Slovakia rose by 225 megawatts, to 3,202 megawatts
Forecast wind generation rose by 942 megawatts over the same period, to 6,115 megawatts, but import needs stayed high.
What is happening with fuel and futures contracts?
Fuel cost pressure is easing. Gas at the Austrian CEGH hub fell by 6.3 euros, to 99.05 euros per megawatt-hour, Greek gas by 9.2 euros, to 87.93 euros, and December gas by 9 euros, to 96.50 euros. December coal dropped by 6 euros, to 142.5 euros. European Union carbon dioxide allowances rose by 1.3 euros, to 90.52 euros per ton.
On the Hungarian futures market, the week 46 contract fell by 20.5 euros, to 312.50 euros, and the December contract by 21.5 euros, to 265 euros. The week 47 contract moved the other way, rising 8 euros to 298 euros. The portals that carried these figures write that for Serbia and Montenegro the market signal is a local premium rather than a general rise in European prices, and that they are watching whether Serbia and Montenegro keep the premium over HUPX and whether the Albanian spike recedes.
