A report by the Kosovo Transmission System and Market Operator (KOSTT) suggests possible manipulation of prices for electricity imported into Kosovo, implicating Serbia’s state energy company Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) and private trader Noa Energy Trade in coordinated behaviour during cross-border capacity auctions in 2025. The findings raise questions about how auction mechanisms were used to inflate transmission costs beyond the underlying electricity value.
KOSTT’s analysis focused on the conduct of market participants in auctions run by the Southeast Europe Capacity Allocation Office (SEECAO) in Podgorica. These auctions are meant to allocate rights to use transmission lines for electricity flows between jurisdictions, including imports into Kosovo. According to the report, Noa Energy Trade and EPS frequently participated together in dozens of auctions to buy and resell transmission capacity intended for Kosovo imports, creating the appearance of market concentration and joint action that could have pushed up transmission fees.
The investigation, commissioned by Kosovo’s energy regulator, examined auction behaviour from January through October 2025. It found that on many daily auctions, only two companies—Noa Energy Trade and EPS—submitted bids for transmission lines. Because charging for electricity imports includes both the energy price and the cost of using the grid, strong concentration of buyers can influence overall import costs when the same entities control both sides of the market.
According to KOSTT’s data, electricity transmission costs for Kosovo imports sometimes climbed to €800 per megawatt-hour in 2024, a level described as an anomaly that typically occurs only when market behaviour is distorted and competitive pressure is weak. Similar unusually high fees for cross-border capacity continued in 2025 when only these two firms were active in certain auctions.
The auction mechanism in SEECAO works by selling annual, monthly and daily transmission rights. KOSTT’s report suggests that Noa Energy Trade’s acquisitions on the annual market—often at moderate prices slightly above €1 per MWh—were then resold on daily markets at higher cost. In almost all of these daily auctions, EPS was the only other bidder, allowing both parties to influence the clearing price.
Under SEECAO rules, auctions are only valid if more than one buyer participates. The pattern seen in 2025, however, consisted overwhelmingly of just these two companies, enabling potential price coordination that could raise the transmission component of Kosovo’s import electricity bill.
KOSTT’s report does not yet determine legal liability, but it identifies frequent participation by Noa Energy Trade and EPS as an opportunity for cooperation that may have increased costs for Kosovo’s electricity imports. The findings are being considered in ongoing investigations by Kosovo’s regulatory authorities as part of broader scrutiny of cross-border energy trading behaviour in the region, writes local media Nova.