Croatian power exchange CROPEX announced that it has signed the WB6 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Regional Electricity Market Development and declared its willingness to participate in the day-ahead electricity market integration initiative. The aim is to establish coupling of national organized day-ahead markets with at least one neighboring country by July 2018.
Director of CROPEX Slivio Brkic pointed out that CROPEX is the first EU power exchange that became a signatory party to WB6 MoU. The signatory represents confirmation of its continuous support to activities of the energy Community Secretariat as well as WB6 countries and stakeholders in their joint effort to establish and couple day-ahead markets at regional and cross border level with WB6 neighboring EU power exchanges.
Director of the Energy Community Secretariat Janez Kopac welcomed CROPEX’s decision, adding that WB6 MoU has once again proved to be the platform of choice for cooperation between WB6 countries and EU Member States stakeholders. He stressed that truly integrated pan-European energy market can only function if the WB6 countries are integrated into the EU’s internal energy market.
In April 2016, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia have agreed to implement day-ahead market integration between the six countries of WB6 region with the aim of achieving market coupling of national organized day-ahead markets with at least one neighboring WB6 or EU country by July 2018 and crossborder balancing cooperation between the WB6 countries by December 2018.
In September 2016, Italian Regulatory Authority for Electricity, Gas and Water has declared its commitment and interest to participate in the development of a common electricity market in Southeastern Europe, by signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Regional Electricity Market Development, developed in the context of Western Balkan 6 Initiative (WB6).