Spot power prices fall on surging wind and solar generation
PARIS, June 29 – European spot electricity prices for next day delivery tumbled on Thursday on the back of an projected surge in renewable wind and solar power output, coupled with a decline in consumption ahead of the weekend.
* The German baseload electricity price for Friday delivery slipped 5.2 euros or 13.98 percent to 32 euros ($36.47) per megawatt-hour (MWh).
* The equivalent French contract for Friday dipped 10.67 percent or 4 euros to 33.50 euros/MWh.
* German wind power production is forecast to jump to by nearly 9 gigawatts (GW) on Friday to 16.6 GW, according to Thomson Reuters data.
* Solar electricity generation will rise by 2.3 GW to 6.2 GW during the same period, the data shows.
* In France, nuclear power availability, which accounts for over 75 percent of electricity needs, has risen to over 66 percent of capacity from 63 percent the previous day, keeping the pressure on prices.
* French wind power will fall slightly by 350 megawatts day-on-day on Friday, but will remain above 3.5 GW.
* Consumption is expected to fall in both countries on Friday as most businesses close ahead of the weekend. German demand will fall by 1.8 GW to 68.8 GW. Demand in France will fall by 840 MW to 47 GW.
* Average temperature will fall 1.5 degrees Celsius in Germany and by 0.9 degree in France on Friday.
* Along the forward curve, prices were mixed as the German Cal ’18 benchmark fell 0.10 percent to 30.82 euros/MWh.
* The equivalent French contract posted a slight gain, rising 0.54 percent to 37.05 euros/MWh.
* Coal cif North Europe was flat at $70.05 per tonne.
* The December-expiry EU carbon contract gained 2.43 percent to 5.06 euros a tonne.
* In East Europe, the Czech contract for Friday slipped 11.11 percent or 4.5 euros to 36 euros/MWh. The year-ahead contract rose 0.32 percent to 31.45 euros/MWh. ($1 = 0.8773 euros) (Reporting by Bate Felix, editing by David Evans)
Source:Reuters
