Strong Wind Push Czech and Slovak Prompt Lower
Czech and Slovak day-ahead power fell on Friday due to forecasts for strong wind generation at the weekend which is expected to pressure prices, traders said.
Czech and Slovak electricity for Saturday dipped 23 percent to 21.77 euros ($23.77) per megawatt hour on regional exchanges as data from Thomson Reuters Point Carbon showed forecasts for wind generation in Germany rising about 5 gigawatts (GW), to 22.4 GW for Saturday and peaking above 23 GW on Sunday.
Day-ahead power on Hungary's HUPX exchange dipped 14 percent to 42.90 euros as a unit at the Paks nuclear power plant was expected to return to the grid on Saturday. Romanian day ahead dipped 15 percent to 42.90 euros.
Further along the curve, the Czech front-month contract gained 5 cents to 30.65 euros in the over-the-counter market while Hungarian power for January fell 60 cents to 42.05 euros.
No Czech Cal '16 contracts were seen changing hands in the over-the-counter market, where the Hungarian front year fell 15 cents to 40.25 euros.
Around the region, German baseload power for next year on the EEX bourse, a benchmark for European electricity, declined 4 cents to 28.97 euros.
Day-ahead power on Poland's POLPX exchange fell to 133.21 zlotys ($33.69) from 147.29 zlotys. Bourse data showed Polish utilities would have 4.7 GW offline for planned and unplanned maintenance on Saturday, down from 6.2 GW on Friday.
Oil prices fell after sources said OPEC had agreed to roll over its policy of maintaining crude production in order to retain market share and raise its output ceiling.
European coal prices for 2016 rose 15 cents, or 0.33 percent, to $45.55 a tonne. Front-year EU carbon allowances fell 3 cents, or 0.35 percent, to 8.56 euros a tonne.
($1 = 0.9159 euros) ($1 = 3.9541 zlotys)
(Reporting by Michael Kahn; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
