Spot contracts increase on declining German wind supply

The European baseload day-ahead power prices increased compared to the previous Monday, as Germany's renewable energy supply is expected fall while demand is predicted to rise throughout the region.

LSEG data shows that the French baseload electricity contract for Tuesday is 76.50 Euros ($89.55) a megawatt hour. The German equivalent contract has a bid price of 97 Euros/MWh.

The Friday contracts for both Mondays were not traded. Last Monday, the French contract was closed at 70 Euros/MWh and the German contract at 91.50 Euros/MWh.

LSEG analyst Xiulan He said that Germany is showing a bullish sign, driven by increasing consumption and a decrease in wind and solar production. Winds were lower during most hours than the day before.

She added that a strong wind rebound is expected to occur in the evening, which could partially dampen the bullish mood later in the day.

LSEG data indicated that the German wind power production was expected to drop by 1.5 gigawatts on Tuesday to 5.4 GW. The French output, however, was projected to increase by 1.5 GW to 3.7 GW.

The French nuclear capacity increased by six percentage points, to 75% total capacity. This is due to the return of several reactors from maintenance.

On Tuesday, power consumption in Germany will rise by 2.4 GW and reach 52.1 GW. In France, demand is expected to increase by 2 GW at 43.2 GW.

LSEG data shows that the German baseload electricity for the year ahead fell 0.1% to 85.85 Euro/MWh, while its French equivalent remained untraded at 61.80 Euro after closing on Friday.

The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets fell 0.8%, to 71.96 Euros per ton.

Owners announced on Monday that the first volumes of CO2 (carbon dioxide) have been injected into and stored in Norway's Northern Lights Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project, marking the beginning of operations. ($1 = 0.8543 euro) (Reporting and editing by Rashmi aich; Forrest Crellin)

(source: Reuters)