Spot prices down as green power supply offsets demand increase
FRANKFURT – European spot electricity prices fell on Monday under the weight of rising renewable supply projections and with thermal capacity in Germany also described as comfortable.
* This overrode forecasts for higher demand over the next few days, when unusually warm weather is due to lift air conditioning use while French nuclear supply is also tightening, traders said. They added that export flows were likely to rise from Germany into France.
* The baseload German spot electricity price for Tuesday delivery fell 8.9 percent to 37 euros ($44.15) per megawatt hour (MWh), compared with the price paid for Monday.
* The equivalent French contract dropped by 2.6 percent to 40.9 euros/MWh.
* German wind turbine production on Tuesday could be nearly four times the expected Monday level, likely rising to 3.8 gigawatts (GW) after 1 GW on Monday, according to Thomson Reuters data. On Wednesday it could rise to 6 GW.
* German solar output will also increase by 1.5 GW day-on-day to 8.3 GW.
* Demand is forecast to rise by 1.4 GW in Germany and by the same number in France day-on-day to respectively 60.1 GW and 48.5 GW.
* Prices on the power forward curve were narrowly higher, having been boosted by nine-month highs in the coal market and by eight-month highs in carbon emissions rights.
* The German Cal ’18 baseload power contract for 2018 delivery gained 0.2 percent to 33.73 euros/MWh.
* The equivalent French contract, which increased last week on concern over French power supply during winter, did not change hands, having closed on Friday at 40.3 euros/MWh .
* The same applied to coal cif Europe 2018, which had closed at $78.76 a tonne after recent rallies.
* December 2017 expiry EU carbon allowances were up 1.3 percent at 6.17 euros a tonne, having soared by nearly 5 percent last week in sympathy with global coal price gains. Coal-to-power generators must hold CO2 certificates to cover their output.
* In eastern Europe, Czech spot power for Tuesday added 3.5 euros over the price paid for Monday to trade at 37 euros/MWh . Czech year-ahead power added 5 cents to 34.25 euros/MWh. ($1 = 0.8380 euros)
Source: reuters
