Electrocentrale Bucuresti has left the failed auction through a side door. After nobody bought the winter packages offered near 1,200 lei/MWh, Elcen now asks customers to bring bilateral bids. The reference price is 1,160 lei/MWh, negotiable. That is not a discount. It is the same power, sold another way.

The invitation, reported by Economica.net on 18 October, covers at most 20 MW a month from December 2026 to March 2027, with a 5 MW floor. The volume is small beside market need, but it shows where the state producer is stuck: too dear for the forward screen, too dependent on gas to cut the ask.

On 1 October, Curierul National explained why the auction died. Elcen wanted 1,170 lei/MWh for January and February, 1,140 for the first quarter and October, 1,130 for November, in 5 MW baseload blocks. No counter-bid. Every round cancelled. Two weeks earlier the same firm had still sold to Premier Energy Furnizare near 1,100 lei/MWh.

The reason is the fuel, not the press note. Market gas is above 400 lei/MWh, while heat for Bucharest stays at a regulated 110 lei. The plant burns expensive gas and sells cheap heat. The gap has to come back through electricity. In winter, when gas sets the marginal price, the bill rises.

On the day-ahead market, Monday 19 October, power printed around 1,500 lei/MWh in tight hours. Refusing 1,170 on the forward curve does not mean winter will be cheap. It means nobody wants to sign today a price they already see as a ceiling, not a bargain.

Elcen is not announcing a sale. It is opening a door. If suppliers stay out, winter goes to the spot, where the price is not negotiated over coffee. If they come in, they will pay close to the auction ask, only without the empty-room spectacle.

This is not energy-procurement advice. It describes a call for contracts, not a final price and not a promise of cheap Bucharest power through March.

Image: almathias, Progresu thermal plant, Bucharest, CC0, Wikimedia Commons; archive CHP, not an Elcen auction in October 2026.

Sources consulted: After the failed auction, Elcen invites clients to bilateral contracts - Economica.net; ELCEN wanted to sell winter power near 1,200 lei/MWh - Curierul National.