CBAM reshapes Balkan power flows, raises grid costs – study

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Physical electricity flows across the Western Balkans increasingly diverged from scheduled cross-border trades in Q2 as the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) reshaped regional trading patterns, increasing system costs, the Energy Community said on Wednesday.

Electricity continued to move through the interconnected Western Balkans grid along the path of “least electrical resistance” rather than according to the commercial schedules underpinning cross-border transactions, the body that represents EU-aspirant nations said in a report.

The mismatch reflects changes in cross-border electricity trading following the introduction of CBAM in January, which places a carbon cost on imported electricity to the EU, with transit from the Western Balkans to the bloc declining 15% year on year in the April-June period, Montel reported.

Operational challenges
The tax was creating operational and financial challenges for regional TSOs, said the Energy Community, with the mismatch particularly evident along the south to north corridor linking Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

Source: Wikipedia