Europe Power rising wind supply weighs on spot price

European spot power prices dropped on Wednesday as wind supply in Germany is expected to nearly double, offsetting lower solar production throughout the region and lower French nuclear.

“There is low exposure to the gas price tomorrow as we only expect must-run gas capacity to run,” Refinitiv analysts said.

German baseload power for delivery on Thursday fell 28.4per cent to 217 euros ($222.27) a megawatt-hour (MWh), as of 0851 GMT.

The equivalent French price shed 11per cent to 356 euros/MWh.

Daily wind power output in Germany was forecast to rise 11.3 gigawatts (GW) day-on-day to 21.8 GW on Thursday, while in France is expected to gain 1.5 GW to 4.8 GW, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

However, power supply from solar panels is expected to drop on Thursday, down almost 4 GW to 7 GW in Germany and falling 170 megawatts (MW) to 3.4 GW in France, the data showed.

French nuclear availability fell 1.5 percentage points to the much-reduced 46.4per cent of total capacity as a 900 MW reactor went offline.

Nuclear output may be cut further because of expected prolonged hot temperatures over the summer months, an EDF (EDF.PA) executive told a briefing on Tuesday.

Consumption in Germany was seen adding 140 MW to 58.5 GW on Thursday, while demand in France was expected to add 570 MW to 46.2 GW.

Along the curve, German year-ahead baseload power fell 3.5per cent to 310.25 euros/MWh.

Front month and front quarter prices similarly fell in the country.

The French 2023 baseload contract was untraded after closing at a high of 444.13 euros/MWh on Tuesday.

The French fourth quarter 2022 contract gained 2.2per cent to 802 euros, less than a euro off of the contract high.

European CO2 allowances for December 2022 expiry dipped 0.1per cent to 83.08 euros a tonne.