Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia sign deal to merge their power exchanges

Top officials from Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia attended the signing of a partnership agreement, within the BlueSky project, on the integration of three electricity exchanges under Adex Group. It will be owned by their transmission system operators MAVIR, EMS and ELES, respectively, and EPEX Spot.

Slovenian Minister of the Environment, Climate and Energy Bojan Kumer, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó and State Secretary in the Ministry of Mining and Energy of Serbia Veljko Kovačević attended the signing of an energy partnership agreement under the BlueSky project.

The ceremony was held in Budapest, where Adex Group, the operator of the newly established joint electricity exchange, will be based. The firm will be the sole shareholder of Slovenia’s bourse BSP SouthPool, Hungarian HUPX and Serbian SEEPEX.

Their respective owners are the three countries’ electricity transmission system operators ELES, MAVIR and Elektromreža Srbije (EMS). Exchange operator EPEX Spot is the fourth partner in Adex Group. The companies said they are open to accepting more shareholders.

BSP SouthPool, HUPX and SEEPEX remain the operators of their existing markets.

Project was initiated in 2018

The Alpine-Adriatic Danube Power Exchange – ADEX was the first one established to operate throughout Central and South-Eastern Europe (CSEE). It was founded in late 2022 by ELES, EMS and EPEX Spot.

The integration will enable simpler and more efficient electricity trading in the region, said Minister of Mining and Energy of Serbia Dubravka Đedović Handanović. “The joint trading platform for all three bourses will additionally boost the development of a regional electricity market and secure a robust and reliable market environment necessary for new investments. It will positively affect the development and integration of renewable energy sources in the region as well,” she stated.

The project was initiated back in 2018, the minister noted. The merger moves Serbia closer to the single European market while easing trading for participants, she asserted.

Serbia working to delay introduction of CBAM carbon border tax for electricity until end of decade

General Manager of EMS Jelena Matejić pointed out that the integration facilitates the continued cooperation between EMS and MAVIR on the proposed coupling of the day-ahead market with the single European electricity market. It is one of the conditions to exempt electricity generated in Serbia from the CO2 import tariffs under the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, until 2030.

A part of the exchange will remain in Ljubljana, the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy of Slovenia said. In addition to the improvement in integrating renewable energy sources, BlueSky will contribute to the strengthening of e-mobility, it added.