Modest Green Power Supply Boosts Prompt Prices
Prospects of weaker solar and wind power output combined with unchanged demand lifted European spot power prices on Tuesday, though thermal capacity availability is adequate, traders said.
German baseload (24 hours) delivery on Wednesday was trading at 38.5 euros ($49.7) a megawatt hour, up 2 euros from the previous day-ahead price.
French power for Wednesday was 50 cents higher at 38 euros.
German average daily solar power capacity will fall by 500 megawatts (MW) day on day to 4.3 gigawatts (GW) on Wednesday and wind capacity will drop by 1.2 GW to 2.6 GW on Wednesday, Thomson Reuters Point Carbon data showed.
Power consumption in both markets was flat, with levels in Germany having stabilised at around 61 GW and those in France at 48 GW.
In line with the season, temperatures will be easing gradually this week across the region. Temperatures in France will be 3 degrees Celsius warmer than in Germany on a 24-hour average basis, Point Carbon said.
By Friday German average daytime temperatures will be between 13 and 22 degrees Celsius, down from between 17 and 21 degrees on Tuesday, German meteteorological office DWD said.
Out on the forward curve, prices for baseload delivery in 2015 were 20 cents down on the day at 35.30 euros, tracking weaker carbon and coal prices.
French Cal '15 was also 20 cents down at 42.75 euros .
Brent crude gained in volatile trade, snapping a three-day losing streak as investors returned their focus to potential supply risks. However, prices remained not far above a recent 16-month low, under pressure from steady global supplies and slower than expected growth in the world's top oil consumers.
UK spot gas prices weakened because of higher than expected imports from the Netherlands but traders are watching the winter 2014 position, which reflects inbuilt concern over supply from Russia in light of the Ukraine crisis.
The EU delayed newly adopted sanctions against Russia to allow it to assess whether a ceasefire in Ukraine is holding. Any tit-for-tat sanctions from Russia could serve to lift gas prices.
(1 US dollar = 0.7749 euro)
(Reporting by Vera Eckert; Editing by David Goodman)
