Spot prices increase on weaker renewable production

Early Thursday, European spot power prices increased as a drop in supply from wind and solar in Germany and The Netherlands was expected to outweigh the decline in demand and slightly higher French renewable output.

At 0908 GMT, the French baseload electricity contract for Friday had increased by 28.6% and was now 18 euros per Megawatt Hour.

The German equivalent contract has not been traded since it closed at 65.90 Euros/MWh on Tuesday.

Florine Enengl, LSEG analyst, says that the residual load in Germany and The Netherlands is expected to increase on Friday as a result of the decreasing supply of wind and solar energy.

LSEG data shows that the German wind output will fall by 3.6 gigawatts on Friday to 14.1 GW. In France, however, it is expected to increase 500 megawatts, to 6.6 GW.

The data also showed that German solar power production has decreased by 1.7 GW and now stands at 14.7 GW.

Four reactors were taken offline for planned maintenance, resulting in a 64% reduction of French nuclear capacity.

LSEG data shows that power usage in Germany will drop by 1 GW and reach 52.6 GW. In France, demand is expected to fall 160 MW, to 42.4 GW.

The German power contract for 2026 was unchanged at 59.80 euro/MWh.

Benchmark European carbon permits dropped 1.5%, to 71.24 euro per metric ton.

China, the world's biggest power polluter, has cut its power emissions by more than half since 2020. However, global power emissions are still largely unchanged due to increased fossil fuel power production in the U.S. Reporting by Forrest Krellin. Mark Potter (Editing)

(source: Reuters)