German wind production falls, resulting in higher spot prices

The European immediate power prices increased on Thursday as the German wind power forecast is for a fall.

LSEG data show that the German baseload electricity for Friday rose 6% to 109.40 Euros ($118.17 per megawatt-hour (MWh). The French equivalent contract rose 1.1% to 69 euro/MWh.

LSEG data indicated that the German wind power production was expected to drop by 4.6 gigawatts to 6.9 GW while French output is projected to increase 370 megawatts to 4.8 GW.

Data showed that the German solar industry was expected to increase its supply by 730 MW on Friday to reach 6.7 GW.

The French nuclear capacity has increased by four percentage points, to 77%.

The strike announcement by EDF for Thursday does not affect power supply in France at this time.

The data shows that power consumption in Germany is expected to drop 1.3 GW, to 56.2 GW, on Friday.

The data indicated that the French demand is expected to drop by 1.3 GW, to 45.3 GW. Average temperatures are forecast to increase 1.4C up to 15.7C.

Francisco Gaspar Machado, LSEG analyst, predicts that residual load will increase day by day in Germany despite lower electricity demand. It is also forecast to increase in Austria, France, but decrease in The Netherlands.

The German power for the year ahead was up 1% to 89.90 Euros/MWh. Meanwhile, French baseload 2025 was not traded after closing on Wednesday at 74.70 Euros/MWh.

The European CO2 allowances in December 2024 increased by 0.2% to 65 euros per metric tonne.

LSEG analyst Ryan Dawson said that the potential for switching from coal to gas could be a factor in driving carbon markets higher, but there's also a chance for profit-taking following Wednesday's sharp increase. ($1 = 0.9258 euro) (Reporting and editing by Sonia Cheema; Forrest Crellin)

(source: Reuters)