Regulatory authorities, operators and energy exchanges active in southeast Europe have begun informal preparations for the establishment of a single electricity market in the region, energypress sources have informed.

These bodies, which had signed a Memorandum of Understanding in mid-November, launching their single-market preparations, are conducting preparatory work at two levels.

Southeast European regulators, headed by the Albanian regulatory authority, placed at the group’s helm, have joined forces to coordinate on high-level preparatory work.

A second team has brought together the region’s operators and energy exchanges. Its participants appointed the North Macedonian energy exchange as group leader.

The participating bodies have scheduled their next meeting for February, in Pristina, where the group will plan its next steps.

Establishing a single southeast European electricity market represents an extremely challenging task that will require time and critical intervention of market structures, experts have pointed out.

The regulatory authorities, operators and energy exchanges working on this single-market project intend to submit an application to the European Commission within 2024, making their endeavor official.

Traders are monitoring the effort’s developments as a prospective market unification would enable cross-border trade in an intraday market, currently not possible.

The unification process will be modelled on the coupled markets of Greece with Italy and Bulgaria.