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16.05.2013 15:21

Serbia to Set Up National Day-Ahead Electricity Market by 2014

Serbian electricity grid operator said it was keen on coupling with other regional markets

AUTHOR: publics.bg

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Serbia’s electricity system operator EMS said it is working in order to set up a day-ahead national market by the first quarter of 2014, so that it can couple with other regional markets.

Milos Mladenovic, EMS's director for international and regulatory issues, said the SEEPEX exchange project would boost competition, increase liquidity and security of supply in the region, as well as develop reliable price indices.

Regional grid operators, power utilities and other European power bourses would be offered roles as strategic partners and shareholders in SEEPEX, he added.

In the initial phase, neighbouring Bosnia, Montenegro and Macedonia could join SEEPEX before eventually linking with the Hungarian, Romanian, Czech and Slovak markets, another EMS official said.

"However, it is difficult to say when the market coupling could kick off since this will be an issue for each national market to decide upon," Mladenovic told Reuters.

EMS had earlier said it was exploring how to set up the regional power exchange with Paris-based EPEX but Mladenovic declined to comment about the progress of talks to do so.

Under the current plan, SEEPEX will offer multiple prices for each of the neighbouring markets and participants will be able to trade hourly, baseload, peak, off-peak, as well as euro-peak and euro-off-peak contracts, Mladenovic said.

The Balkan region has become attractive for potential trading opportunities due to expected growth as it closes the gap with Western Europe and because of the number of shared borders with European Union nations.

But market participants say state control over prices, export fees and allocation of cross-border capacities are obstacles to the growth of electricity trading in the region.