Day-ahead electricity prices across eastern Southeast Europe eased back towards €160/MWh for Sept. 26 delivery, while intraday trading still ranged from near zero to above €250/MWh. The shift highlighted the role of batteries and other flexible assets in managing hourly price volatility. Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece all cleared close to the same regional level for the day-ahead session.
Hungary cleared at about €161.2/MWh, Romania around €162/MWh, Bulgaria at €160.6/MWh and Greece close to €160/MWh. The move followed day-ahead prices that were above roughly €213-220/MWh in several markets one day earlier. Despite the lower average, hourly outcomes varied sharply within the delivery day.
In Hungary and Romania, electricity prices fell to around €0.70/MWh during solar-heavy afternoon periods before rising to roughly €251/MWh later in the day. Greek prices dropped to about €2/MWh during the cheapest hours, while Bulgaria traded near €15/MWh. The extremes indicate that baseload averages did not capture the full range of intraday conditions.
For Hungary, the cheapest three-hour window averaged roughly €10.7/MWh, compared with about €228/MWh during the most expensive three hours. That difference between low- and high-price periods is presented as a key metric for market participants evaluating flexibility. The same pattern links value to timing rather than daily average levels.
Solar-driven midday lows and evening scarcity premiums
The Sept. 26 price profile reflects a period when rapid solar expansion across Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece depresses prices around midday. At the same time, limited storage and dispatchable capacity are associated with strong evening scarcity premiums. Pumped hydro, flexible demand and shaped PPAs are described as benefiting from that volatility.
The source also notes that solar generators face different economics under these conditions. Producing during the cheapest hours can push capture prices well below daily baseload averages, which can weaken merchant revenues unless generation is stored or contracted differently. As a result, the regional market is described as becoming increasingly bifurcated between average price levels and hour-specific value.
For storage investors, the distinction between low-price charging hours and high-price discharging hours is highlighted as more relevant than the baseload number alone. With intraday outcomes ranging from near zero to more than €250/MWh, the value of power delivered at specific times remains central to how flexibility is priced for Sept. 26 delivery.