Romania and Hungary experience the highest electricity prices in Europe due to heatwaves and outages.

Romania and Hungary currently have the highest electricity prices in Europe based on the day-ahead market rates. Increased demand for cooling during a heatwave has impacted the already record-high output from solar energy, while decreases in nuclear and gas power availability have tightened the supply.

On June 28, the day-ahead market price in Romania reached EUR 224 per MWh, marking the highest price in Europe, with Hungary close behind at EUR 223 per MWh. In contrast, Germany and France reported prices of EUR 140 per MWh and EUR 125 per MWh, respectively.

Following Croatia's price of EUR 184 per MWh, Slovakia had EUR 183 per MWh, Slovenia EUR 173 per MWh, and Italy EUR 156 per MWh. This stands in stark contrast to the lowest prices of EUR 11 per MWh in Sweden’s northern zone, EUR 24 per MWh in Finland, and EUR 30 per MWh in Tromsø, northern Norway.

On June 27, for supply on June 28, Italy had the highest market price at EUR 121 per MWh, with Romania and Hungary both at EUR 96 per MWh. Prices in Central Europe were lower by EUR 7 to EUR 11 per MWh.

Seasonal changes lead to increased cooling demand. Typically, weekends and holidays see reduced electricity use. However, the current extreme heat in Europe has driven up cooling power consumption, affecting solar power generation. This is a stark contrast to spring, when solar energy production flooded the market, leading to very low prices around noon.

As evening approaches, solar power output declines, causing prices at electricity exchanges to rise.

According to Profit.ro, Romania's active dispatchable solar power capacity was just under 3 GW on June 26, hitting another record high.

Romania and Hungary are facing limited capacity in their nuclear plants. One of the reactors at Romania's only nuclear power facility in Cernavodă is currently undergoing maintenance, while OMV Petrom's gas power plant in Brazi is operating at half capacity. Additionally, weak wind conditions have further restricted renewable energy generation.

In Hungary, the state power company MVM reduced the capacity of one of the four reactors at the Paks nuclear plant by 243 MW due to unusually high temperatures in the Danube river, which is used for cooling. The government has advised households to reduce electricity usage during peak afternoon hours.