German rates drop, while French prices increase amid weather changes
On Wednesday, the European power prices showed divergent trends. Germany's fell on account of higher wind generation, while France's went up due to colder weather forecasts, which will increase electric heating demand.
LSEG's analysis cited the wind power supply in Germany as the guiding force that will lead to net exports from the country for the next day. LSEG noted a decrease in lignite and natural gas availability among other factors.
LSEG data shows that German baseload power for the day ahead was down 21.8% at 97 Euros ($102.00 per megawatt-hour (MWh) as of 0940 GMT.
Context in French
The price of the MWh was up 28.4% from its previous close.
LSEG data shows that the German wind power production is expected to increase by 12.6 gigawatts on Thursday, bringing it to a total of 35.9 GW.
The French nuclear capacity is now at 85%. This represents a three-point increase.
On the demand front, it is predicted that power consumption in Germany will drop 500 MW per day, reaching 62.3 GW by Thursday. In France, demand is also expected to fall 500 MW, to 56.0 GW.
The German power contract for 2025 was down 0.5% at 97.8 Euros/MWh. However, the French baseload contract for 2025 fell 2.4% with just one single trading movement, to 77 Euros/MWh.
The European CO2 allowances (for December 2024) fell 1.7% and now trade at 68.08 Euros per metric tonne.
Robert Habeck, German Economy Minister, wants to provide subsidies in order to offset rising electricity fees. The consumers are the ones who bear high energy costs. The proposal is not likely to be implemented after the fall of the Berlin government.
KfW, the German state bank, will lend 24 billion euros to develop a hydrogen network for the future in Germany. This comes at a time that companies are warning the technology may take longer to catch on than expected. Reporting by Vera Eckert and Editing by Tasim Zaid. $1 = 0.9510 Euros
(source: Reuters)
