German prompt price falls amid weak demand
The wholesale price of German spot electricity dropped on Thursday due to the fact that France was celebrating a holiday and the weekend.
France was largely closed for the commemoration of Nazi Germany's defeat in World War Two. This has withdrawn a sizeable amount of consumption from the market while solar supply increased across the region.
LSEG analysts cited a number bearish factors in demand and supply, which overshadowed an expected decline in German wind energy generation for the day ahead.
At 0810 GMT, the German baseload day-ahead traded at 88.3 Euros ($99.66 per megawatt hour), a 9.6% decline.
The French baseload price for Friday was 5.4% higher, at 14.80 euros/MWh. However, this is a very low rate for a workday.
LSEG data show that solar power production in Germany increased by 2.2 GW to 16.8 GW, and in France by 1 GW to 4.4 GW.
The supply was also boosted due to a six-point increase in the French nuclear capacity available, which grew from 72% to 72%.
The power demand in Germany is expected to drop by 1 GW at 53.1 GW. In France, it will likely rise by 1.3 GW at 39.5 GW. Both levels are relatively low.
The German baseload contract for 2026 was up 0.8% at 87.5 Euros. The French equivalent 2026 baseload contract fell 0.2% to 64.0 euros.
Benchmark European carbon permits increased 0.3%, to 71.26 Euros per metric ton.
The EEX bourse announced that the European power futures contracts, which are its flagship contracts in Europe, increased 14% on an annual basis in April. They reached 825.9 terawatt-hours in total.
Gas markets in Europe saw a big increase this month. European spot gas was up 31% to 295,9 TWh, and European gas futures were up 50% to 493,0 TWh. ($1 = 0.8860 euro) (reporting by Vera Eckert and editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise).
(source: Reuters)
