French spot returns to summer with falling wind speeds
The price of French baseload electricity for the day ahead on Wednesday was higher due to forecasts that wind generation would be lower than expected. This overrode the negative impact from the increasing availability of nuclear, solar, and thermal power in the region.
By 0900 GMT on Thursday, the French baseload electricity contract for that day was 53 euros (61.36 dollars) per megawatt-hour (MWh), while in Germany, after closing at 60.4, euros/MWh, there was no trading.
LSEG data revealed that the wind power generation in Germany is likely to drop from 19.1 GW to 9.1 GW per day, and in France from 2.2 GW to 1.4 GW.
According to operator data, French nuclear availability increased by four percentages points over night to an equivalent level of 76% installed capacity.
Demand forecasts were mixed. In Germany, usage was expected to increase by 200 MW, reaching 51.3 GW. In France, it was predicted to decrease by 700 MW, to 40.6 GW.
The weather charts showed a return to summery conditions. This, especially in France, increases both the demand for air conditioning and the risk of generating volumes at plants that rely on river temperatures relatively low for cooling water.
These signals boosted the week-ahead price in both countries on Tuesday. However, further gains were modest, with France's baseload for the week ahead only up 0.8% to 60.5 euros.
The German baseload for the year ahead dropped 0.2% to 87.2 Euro/MWh, while France's fell 0.6% to 61.8 euros.
The data from LevelTen, a price tracking platform, showed that the prices of European power purchase agreement (PPA) green electricity fell by 4.0% compared to 2024's second quarter.
LevelTen noted that combining solar capacity with batteries storage is gaining traction for what's called hybrid project development. This combination allows for better economic viability, by responding to patterns of demand and price.
(source: Reuters)
