Hungary Gas & Power Market Access
Hungary Gas Market Access
What is the lead time to begin trading in the Hungarian gas market?
6-12 months including RBP registration.
What are the licencing requirements to trade in Hungary’s gas market for EU and Non-EU firms?
According to the Hungarian Gas Act (Act XL of 2008 on natural gas supply), trading in natural gas requires a license issued by the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority (MEKH).
A licence is required if a foreign entity wishes to supply end customers directly or if a non-EU/EEA company wishes to participate in the Hungarian gas market.
What are the licences available from MEKH to trade in Hungary’s gas market?
Two types of licenses are available to trade Hungary’s gas market:
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Limited trading for the wholesale market only.
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Full supply license, which allows for end-user supply.
Note that gas transit, is not subject to a license.
What are the licencing requirements for EU and EEA firms?
Companies interested in trading natural gas at the wholesale level may be based either in Hungary or in the European Union (provided they comply with the provisions of the Gas Act and have an agent in Hungary to receive documents on behalf of the license holder).
What are the requirements for non-EU and EEA firms?
Non-EU firms must set up a local entity within Hungary.
What are the licence fees for applying for a licence to trade Hungary’s gas market?
As of 2025, the overall fee for a Licence is 4,000,000 HUF, and 2,000,000 HUF for a Limited Licence (wholesale only). The administrative fee for a storage license is set at 6,000,000 HUF.
How long is a Hungarian gas trading licence valid for?
Licenses are issued for an indefinite period.
What are the capital requirements to trade in Hungary’s gas market?
Collateral requirements are dependent upon the expected transaction volumes, however the minimum required amount is Euro 287,500 as of 2025.
Balancing and Flexibility in the Hungarian Gas Market
FGSZ is the Transmission System Operator for Hungary’s gas market. Balancing is managed either through OTC (over-the-counter) bilateral agreements or via the daily natural gas and capacity market.
A trader must either:
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Conclude a bilateral agreement with FGSZ, and open a Keler account.
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Alternatively they can become a member of the RBP (Regional Booking Platform) platform
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LinePack Flexibility Services (LPFS) are available for system users for balancing purposes
What steps to join the Regional Booking Platform for Hungary’s gas market?
Below are the steps required to obtain to register on the RBP platform:
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Acquisition of the FGSZ business code, operational rules of the RBP, and operational rules for the KP trading platform;
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Registration for an EIC and ACER code;
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Registration for an electronic certificate;
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Registration for a license for gas trading activities from MEKH;
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IP Registration via the RBP Portal;
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RBP (Regional Booking Platform) Registration;
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Network contracts (transmission contracts) signature;
Where is Hungary’s gas market traded?
Three main trading platforms are operating in the Hungarian gas market. FGSZ operates the KP trading platform, while the CEEGEX platform operates as the Central Eastern European Gas Exchange.
Note: Participation in exchange trade is not mandatory in Hungary.
What are the prerequisite requirements to trade Hungary’s gas market on the KP platform?
Access to the KP platform is regulated by operational rules approved by the regulator MEKH. Parties interested in joining this platform need to conclude a membership agreement and accept its operational rules. FGSZ also provides the balancing settlement service for all shippers, regardless of whether they have membership for a trading platform via the Contract on Natural Gas Balancing Settlement as part of the Business Code.
What are the prerequisite requirements to trade Hungary’s gas market on the CEEGEX platform?
CEEGEX represents the main short-term gas exchange in Hungary, and traders can use its services after having gained admission and meeting certain preconditions, including:
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Network Usage Framework contract (with FGSZ Ltd.)
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Natural gas trading licence (MEKH)
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Clearing Membership Agreement with KELER CCP and opening an account at one of the settlement banks and appropriate assurance on deposit account
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CEEGEX Trader exam
What are the pre requisite requirements to trade Hungary’s gas derivative market?
With HUDEX gas segment terminated, traders use CEEGEX for spot/short-term gas and EEX derivatives as alternatives. CEEGEX plans to re-establish gas derivatives soon.
CEEGEX Gas Preconditions (Main Short-term Alternative):
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Network Usage Framework contract with FGSZ Ltd.
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Natural gas trading license (MEKH)
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Clearing Membership Agreement with KELER CCP + settlement bank account
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CEEGEX Trader exam
For longer-term gas futures, consider EEX platforms or OTC bilateral trades via brokers.
Hungary Power Market Access
What is the licence lead time to begin trading the physical Hungarian power market
5-6 months
What are the licencing requirements to enter the Hungarian power market?
Shippers are required to obtain a license to trade electricity in Hungary and through the Hungarian transmission system
What are the licences available from MEKH to trade in Hungary’s Power market?
Two types of licenses are available to trade Hungary’s power market
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Limited licence for the wholesale market trading only.
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Regular license, which allows for end-user supply.
What are the licencing requirements for EU and EEA firms?
There is no need to set up a company or branch in Hungary to be licensed as an electricity trader as long as the applicant is incorporated in an EU member state or any of the EEA countries, provided it lawfully pursues electricity trading in that state, complying with the requirements set out in the relevant domestic laws
What are the licence fees for applying for a licence to trade Hungary’s gas market?
The fee for a Licence is 6,000,000 HUF as of 2025.
How is Hungary’s Balancing market for electricity organised?
Market access conditions require all market participants to join a balance circle, which is equivalent to a balancing account or balancing group. A "balance circle" is an accounting unit of generators, traders and end-users in which the agreed quantities of off take and feed-in balance out. Generators and traders may set up their balance circles or may join an existing one. Each balance circle must have a balance circle leader (also known as the balance responsible party, typically a trader or generator) who is responsible for settling the balancing charges with MAVIR (the Hungarian Transmission System Operator - TSO). The TSO is the last resort guarantor of balancing generation and demand over the entire transmission system and procures balancing actions from market participants to match supply and demand. Network access is granted by, MAVIR.
Is Hungary’s balancing market for power mandatory for traders?
MAVIR, the TSO, operates the balancing market. Participation is mandatory for all electricity traders, either directly (by agreeing with the TSO) or by becoming a member of a balancing group and assigning the balancing obligation to a balancing party.
Where is Hungary’s power market traded?
There are three exchanges related to the Hungarian power market. The largest is HUPX which currently, enjoys a monopoly for operating a spot power exchange in Hungary. HUPX operates an electronic platform that offers spot trading through closed auctions organised on a day-ahead and within-day basis. The products that can be traded on HUPX are standard contracts for the physical delivery of electricity within the Hungarian transmission system. Clearing and settlement of the transactions concluded on HUPX is performed by the European Commodity Clearing AG, the clearing house of all EPEX Spot markets.
PXE Hungary (operated by EEX) is for trading financial derivatives futures. Note: HUDEX (Hungarian Derivatives Exchange) permanently ceased operations in December 2024 and is no longer available for trading.
What are the preconditions to becoming a member of HUPX?
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Balance group membership at MAVIR (Hungarian Transmission System Operator)
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Trading license or other license issued by the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority (MEKH)
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Clearing Bank selection, admission to ECC and appropriate assurance on deposit account
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HUPX Trader exam (or EPEX Spot Trader exam)
What happened to HUDEX and where do traders go now?
HUDEX terminated power/gas segments Oct 2025 due to low liquidity. EEX-PXE Hungarian Power Futures is the direct replacement with equivalent settlement prices.
What methods to onboarding to the power futures exchange?
Following HUDEX termination in October 2025, the primary platform for Hungarian power derivatives is the EEX-PXE Hungarian Power Future on EEX. This offers cash-settled futures covering next 34 days, weekends, weeks, months (up to 6), quarters (7), and years (6) with 1 MW lots at €0.01/MWh tick size.
Preconditions for EEX-PXE Power Futures:
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Trading license from MEKH (or equivalent EU authorization)
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ECC (European Commodity Clearing) non-clearing or full membership
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Clearing bank agreement (extend existing if applicable)
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EEX trading participant status under EEX Terms & Conditions
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Balance group membership at MAVIR for physical delivery requests
Note: Direct participation requires infrastructure; indirect via Access Providers (banks) available for smaller traders.
There are two ways to trade on the derivatives market:
By direct participation - this is trading on a regulated market, operating under the license and on the trading platform of EEX.
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Enter into a contract with a clearing bank (if one already exists, it must be extended to cover the relevant products).
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Apply for a non-clearing membership in the European Commodity Clearing AG (ECC) settlement centre (if the membership already exists, it needs to be expanded for the relevant products).
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Become a trading participant on the EEX exchange under these EEX Terms and Conditions
By indirect participation - This option allows you to trade EEX products, even if you are not a direct trading participant. However, it does not apply to trading on the PXE and OTE Joint Day-Ahead Market or the End-User Market.
This option is suitable for you if you do not have the following:
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sufficient trading volume that would justify the cost of direct participation
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sufficient internal infrastructure
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financial resources
How it works
Several market participants ("Access Providers"), in particular banks, provide access to the EEX products for non-members via their infrastructure. Under this setup, non-members trade via the member ID of the Access Provider.
The design and terms and conditions of such access vary depending on the particular Access Provider's service offer.
The Access Provider remains legally and operationally responsible for all transactions concluded under its member ID.
What are the capital/collateral requirements to trade the power market in Hungary?
The European Commodity Clearing AG (ECC) deposit based on trading volume
Correggio Consulting Market Access Services
At Correggio Consulting, we offer a range of specialist services rooted in a profound understanding of the energy industry. Our service is underpinned by an extensive knowledge and experience of European and global markets at all levels of the value chain.
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