Cooler Temperatures, Less Wind Output Lift Spot Prices

Expectations of higher demand due to cooler temperatures and falling renewable supply lifted central European day ahead power on Monday with mild weather likely to limit spot price gains during the week, traders said.

On regional exchanges, Czech and Slovak electricity for Thursday increased around 25 percent to 37.71 euros ($51.88) per megawatt hour and Hungarian day ahead gained about 9.5 percent to 37.71 euros.

Temperatures are expected to fall below seasonal averages during the week while data from Thomson Reuters Point Carbon showed forecasts for wind generation in Germany falling by about half to 5.5 gigawatts for Tuesday.

"The market is quiet," one trader said. "Cooler weather and less wind are pushing spot prices up."

Trading was light further along the curve, with no trades seen of the Czech and Slovak front months in the over-the-counter market. Hungarian power for June slipped 5 cents to 37.85 euros.

On the Prague-based Power Exchange Central Europe, the Czech front month rose 5 cents to 33.80 euros and the Hungarian Cal '15 fell 15 cents to 42.40 euros.

Around the region, the benchmark German Cal '15 rose 13 cents to 34.60 euros in afternoon trade on Germany's EEX exchange. Day ahead on Poland's POLPX ticked up to 183.60 zlotys ($60.40)from 181.54 zlotys.

Bosnia's 300 megawatt (MW) Gacko coal-fired plant will go offline from June 20 to July 30 for planned maintenance, the plant's production manager Borivoje Vujicic told Reuters.

Bosnian grid operator Nezavisni Operator Sistema (NOS) on Monday announced the cross-border power capacity available for allocation in June.

Brent crude oil climbed above $108 per barrel as the deepening crisis between Russia and Ukraine unsettled investors.

European Union carbon futures rose 4 cents to 5.34 euros a tonne in afternoon trading.

($1 = 0.7269 Euros) ($1 = 3.0395 Polish Zlotys)

(Reporting by Michael Kahn; Editing by David Evans)