German Spot Falls as High Wind Output Continues

The German spot price of power for Tuesday dropped as the already high wind output was expected rise again and outweigh demand. In contrast, France's spot price rose as wind supply was falling and demand was increasing.

LSEG data shows that the German day-ahead contract at 0836 GMT was 65.50 Euros ($76.39 per megawatt hour), down 4.2% on Monday's price.

Data showed that the French equivalent is 54.75 euros/MWh - a 14.8% increase on the price paid Monday.

According to LSEG analyst Naser Hachemi, the German demand will pick up during the first six-hours of Tuesday. Wind generation is also expected to increase in the morning. This will reduce the residual load for the entire day.

LSEG data indicated that on the supply side of things, German wind output was expected to increase by 1.7 gigawatts, to 44.3 GW, while French output is predicted to fall 5.5 GW, to 8.4 GW.

LSEG data shows that the German demand for power rose by 1.5 GW to 59.7 GW while France's was up 1.4 GW.

Engie's EnergyScan analyst said that while temperatures are slightly below normal for the season, they continue to support power demand. However, high wind output, wet conditions, and hydropower production all contribute to a downward pressure on electricity prices.

The French nuclear availability increased by one percentage point, to 71%. This was due to several restarts that offset an unplanned and a planned outage of the Belleville 1 reactor.

EDF, the operator of Belleville 1, said that the reactor was shut down on Saturday for maintenance on equipment in the nuclear section of the facility. EDF did not specify which part of the Belleville 1 reactor required work.

The German baseload contract for the year ahead was down by 1%, at 86.55 Euro/MWh.

After closing Friday at 55.41 Euros/MWh, the French year-ahead market was not traded.

The benchmark contract for the European carbon market 2025 was down by 1.1%, at 77.47 euro per metric ton.

(source: Reuters)