German spot up on renewables, French off on demand
European spot power prices were mixed on Thursday, with higher German levels reflecting hedge buys as wind forecasts were not clear and solar power output was seen falling, while those in France were down on weaker consumption.
* German baseload for Friday delivery edged 0.5 percent higher to 37.8 euros ($41.19) per megawatt-hour (MWh).
* The equivalent French contract lost 3.4 percent to 41.8 euros/MWh.
* Thomson Reuters data showed that Germany might produce between 2.5 and 3.8 gigawatts of wind power on Friday, flat or up to 0.9 GW more than expected to come in on Thursday, but this was uncertain, traders said.
* German solar output meanwhile was seen down 0.3 to 0.6 GW down day-on-day.
* Power demand will likely fall by 1.1 GW in Germany and by 0.9 GW in France on Friday.
* French nuclear availability currently stands at 74 percent of the total.
* Temperatures in the region are slowly moving higher and next week should be 4 to 5 degrees Celsius higher on average than the current one, which was much cooler than the seasonal norm.
* Along the forward curve, the German Cal ’18 benchmark gained 0.7 percent to 29.6 euros/MWh as gas and coal prices firmed while oil fell and carbon was unchanged.
* The equivalent French power contract gained 0.4 percent to 35.65 euros.
* The recent decline in power curve prices resulted from a temporary decline in coal and because of weaker CO2, BayernLB said in a market report. But it added it saw no reason for German Cal ’18 to leave its established 28 to 31.5 euro trading range.
* EU carbon emissions rights were unchanged at 4.61 euros a tonne while coal prices cif North Europe for 2018 stood 1.1 percent higher at $66.5 a tonne.
* In eastern Europe, the Czech day-ahead contract shed 0.9 euros to 37.1 euros/MWh. The year-ahead position did not trade after a 29.30 euros close.
* German utility RWE told shareholders it needs to press on with cost cuts at its struggling power plant business as wholesale prices remain historically low despite their recent recovery.
* ($1 = 0.9176 euros) (Reporting by Vera Eckert; Editing by Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
Source:Reuters
