Colder weather increases demand for spot prices

The European spot electricity prices rose for Tuesday on the expectation that colder weather forecasts will increase demand for heating.

LSEG data shows that the German baseload day-ahead power price at 0846 GMT was 103.55 Euro per megawatt-hour, an increase of 9.3% over Friday's closing price for Monday delivery.

Data showed that the equivalent French price for Monday delivery was 92 euros/MWh. This is 44.7% higher than the Friday price.

LSEG analyst Xiulan He said that residual load was higher in the entire region due to the lower wind power output, and the stronger demand. This is especially true for France. Imports will continue throughout the day into Germany.

LSEG data indicated that on the supply side German wind power output was expected to drop by 1.3 gigawatts, to 21.9 GW, while French wind production was projected to increase by 3.5 GW, to 4 GW.

LSEG data shows that the German demand for power is expected to increase by 2 GW this Wednesday to 61.7 GW. In France, it is predicted to increase by 6.1 GW up to 58.1 GW.

Next week, the weather will be colder in the region. The average temperature in Germany is set to drop by 2.5 degrees Celsius and in France by 3.7 C to 2 C.

The French nuclear energy availability remained unchanged at 82% total capacity.

The German baseload contract for the year ahead was down by 0.2% to 89.30 Euros/MWh.

The French position for the year ahead fell 0.3% to 53.10 Euros.

The benchmark 2025 carbon contract on the European market fell 1.1%, to 80.08 Euros per metric ton. Reporting by Forrest Créllin Editing David Goodman

(source: Reuters)