Prices drop in advance of partial holidays
The European spot electricity price fell on Wednesday due to pressure on wholesale markets in advance of Corpus Christi, a holiday that will be celebrated on Thursday. This also affected usage the following Friday.
The LSEG analysis pointed out that the solar and wind power outputs, as well as hard coal generation, were also higher.
At 0745 GMT, the German day-ahead contract for baseload power dropped by 25.1% and now costs 58 euros (66.79 dollars) per megawatt hour.
The French baseload for the day ahead was down 1% at 52 euros. The country does observe the holiday.
German Friday delivery was bid at 56 euros, compared to the previous close of 74.8 euros on day two.
On Thursday, the wind power generation is expected to increase by 6.5 gigawatts in Germany to 14.9 GW.
The French nuclear capacity is at 69%.
In Germany, power demand fell by 6.5 gigawatts on Thursday to 45.9 GW. Meanwhile, in France it increased by 400 MW, reaching 46 GW.
The average temperature is expected to rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius next week compared with Wednesday's levels. This is a time when the intensity and timing of air conditioning usage are largely determining factors in power demand.
On the forward curve, the German baseload for the year ahead increased by 0.4% at 93 euros/MWh and the French equivalent rose 0.6% to 67.1 euros/MWh.
The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets increased by 0.3%, to 74.85 Euros per metric ton.
A government investigation on Tuesday concluded that REE, the Spanish grid operator, failed to calculate the right mix of energy to help the grid cope with the surge in voltage which led to a massive blackout on Iberia's power grid on April 28.
The government announced that it would continue to push for the integration of the peninsula into the European grid. ($1 = 0.8684 euro) (Reporting and editing by Vera Eckert)
(source: Reuters)
