Demand plummets as spot prices drop during German holidays

The European power prices fell on Thursday as German demand dropped during the Unity Day holidays. Friday is the next official day of work in Germany, and this day usually has a low demand because it's a day between a long weekend.

According to LSEG, the price of German baseload electricity for Thursday fell 17.1% from 80 euros ($88.53 per megawatt-hour (MWh) on Wednesday at 0903 GMT.

The French power price for the day ahead fell by 16.2%, to 70 euros/MWh.

LSEG data shows that the Unity Day holiday is expected to cause a 9 gigawatt (GW) drop in Germany's power consumption to 47.6 GW in the coming session, while France is forecast to see 1.7 GW increase to 47.6 GW.

Analyst Francisco Gaspar Machado of LSEG said that residual load in Germany is expected to decrease day-on-day because of Unity Day. Exports are expected to be coming from Germany during most hours.

LSEG data indicated that the German wind power production is expected to drop 1.1 GW from 14.8 GW this Thursday. The French wind power is expected add 2.2 GW up to 6.2 GW.

The data revealed that solar power in Germany will increase by 800 megawatts to 6.1 GW.

The French nuclear availability dropped by two percentage points to 70%, as a reactor was taken offline for a planned maintenance.

The German power price for the year ahead fell by 0.8%, to 86.25 Euros/MWh. The French baseload 2025 contract was bid at 69.30 euro/MWh.

The European CO2 allowances in December 2024 increased by 0.2%, to 63.75 Euros per metric ton.

Analysts at Energi Danmark stated that the compliance-buying period ended with September's end. This, coupled with a bearish gas market, led to a downward adjustment of carbon allowances Tuesday. However, there was an initial upward correction on Wednesday, in correlation with gas. ($1 = 0.9037 euros)

(source: Reuters)