Colder Weather Outlook Boosts Prompt

Lower wind power production and forecasts for cooler weather lifted European prompt power prices on Thursday as they boosted demand.

But demand was weakened ahead of the weekend and thermal plant capacity was going up, German traders said.

They added that France was more bullish because cool weather correlates more closely with electricity usage there.

Germany's contract for Friday delivery was up 9.5 euros at 34.75 euros ($41) a megawatt hour, while the equivalent French contract rose 4.75 euros to 40.25 euros/MWh.

Temperatures in Germany are to drop to 0.4 degrees Celsius on average next week from 5.9 degrees recorded on Thursday on a 24-hour basis. Those in France are due to decline to 2.4 degrees next week versus 9.4 degrees on Thursday, data from Thomson Reuters Point Carbon data showed.

The German met office DWD said in a daily research note that daytime temperatures would drop by 5 to 7 degrees by Sunday.

Point Carbon saw France power consumption increasing by 8 gigawatts from the current daily level by Monday to reach 73 GW while Germany should add just over 1 GW to hit 70 GW.

Wind power will drop by three quarters to 2.5 GW between Friday and Monday.

Power curve prices gave way as carbon and coal posted losses while oil crept higher after early falls.

Germany's Cal' 16 baseload position, the benchmark for European electricity prices for delivery next year, was unchanged at 31.95 euros/MWh, having slipped earlier.

The equivalent French contract was also unchanged at 37.95 euros/MWh.

Traders said that the curve followed carbon and coal, which pared earlier losses.

European carbon prices were up 1.4 percent at 7.35 euros/tonne.

Coal cif north Europe for 2016 declined by $0.30 a tonne from the previous day's McCloskey index to $60.35 a tonne.

Elsewhere, German offshore wind is expanding, industry figures showed. At the end of 2014, installed capacity stood at 2.35 GW, compared with 915 MW at the end of 2013, engineering group VDMA said, forecasting a rise to 3 GW by the end of 2015.

Reporting by Vera Eckert