January 16 (SeeNews) - Hungary, Slovenia and Serbia are in talks to launch a joint regional electricity exchange in the first half of 2024, Hungarian foreign affairs and trade minister Peter Szijjarto said.
Decisions on the exchange have already been taken at the expert and corporate level and all that is necessary now is government approval, Szijjarto said in a statement published on the government's website on Monday.
In December, the Hungarian energy ministry said it has been granted the authority to establish a Budapest-based holding company to operate the electricity exchange, with the goal of completing the process by the end of 2024.
The company will be jointly owned by the Hungarian, Serbian, and Slovenian electricity transmission system operators and the European Power Exchange (EPEX SPOT), which will provide the technological background for settlements, the energy ministry said back then.
In December 2022, Slovenian electricity grid operator Eles inaugurated the first regional power exchange for Central and Southeastern Europe (CSEE) jointly with Serbian peer Elektromreza Srbije (EMS) and the European Power Exchange. The Alpine-Adriatic Danube Power Exchange (ADEX) was established through the corporate merging of Slovenian physical day-ahead market and intraday market operator BSP SouthPool and Serbian licensed market operator SEEPEX, with the company’s headquarters in Ljubljana and main permanent offices in Ljubljana and Belgrade.