Germany is seen to be weakening as France calls for less nuclear power
The French power price rose Wednesday due to a tightening of the nuclear supply in France, while German prices were impacted by lower demand and increased wind generation.
The outlook for Germany is negative, Riccardo Paraviero, LSEG analyst, said. He added that coal production was down, while gas units produced more.
The French baseload contract for Thursday had risen 4.9% to 54 euros ($62.43 per megawatt-hour (MWh), while the German equivalent was not traded, after settling at 80.28 euro.
The French nuclear capacity dropped by 7% overnight, or one percentage point.
LSEG data revealed that the German wind power production was expected to increase by 2.5 gigawatts to 19.3 GW in the next day.
In contrast, power consumption was stable in Germany at 51 GW and in France, it was around 42 GW.
Traders said that in commodity logistics, rain has been falling repeatedly in the past few days, raising water levels along the entire River Rhine to normal levels. This allows cargo ships to sail at full capacity.
The German baseload year-ahead was bid steadily at 88.3 Euros/MWh (its closing level), but no new contracts were made.
The French contract had a price of 63.3 euros/MWh as the finalized price, but was quoted at 64.9 euros.
Crude oil prices slowed overnight, after spiking by more than 3% in the previous session. Investors awaited the outcome of President Donald Trump's new deadline for Russia's progress towards ending the conflict in Ukraine.
The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets was just 0.1% lower, at just over 73 euros per metric ton.
(source: Reuters)
