WARSAW: Forecasts of high temperatures and little wind sent central European day-ahead power prices up on Tuesday, while higher carbon and oil prices supported the front-year contract, traders said.
On regional exchanges, Czech and Slovak day-ahead prices surged to 46.40 euros while the Hungarian day-ahead price cleared the daily auction slightly higher at 46.46 euros.
The three central European countries linked their day-ahead markets last year, but prices have diverged frequently since, with Hungary often trading higher.
Prices also jumped on the over-the-counter market. Czech electricity for Wednesday delivery rose by 5.5 euros to 44 euros per megawatt hour in over-the-counter trade. The discount to neighbouring Germany was about 2 euros.
"Prices in Germany went up and exports expanded due to the decent cross-border capacities," a trader in Poland said.
Data from Thomson Reuters Point Carbon showed forecasts for wind generation in Germany shrinking further to 919 megawatts from 1.3 gigawatts (GW) the day before, with solar production almost unchanged at 8 GW.
"Temperatures are due to increase further in Germany, while they are to remain stable in France ... Calm conditions in Germany brings very little wind supply, and there is a day-on-day decrease in the morning hours," Point Carbon analysts wrote.
Hot weather supports spot power prices as the demand for electricity grows due to increased use of air-conditioning.
Further along the curve, the Czech Cal '14 contract rebounded and rose 20 cents to 36.90 euros on the over-the-counter market.
Around the region, the benchmark German Cal '14 contract gained 17 cents to 37.81 euros in afternoon trade on Germany's EEX exchange.
On Poland's POLPX exchange, day-ahead power rose to 167.30 zlotys from 159.90 zlotys. Poland's utilities will have 2.8 GW of power offline for planned maintenance on Thursday, data from grid operator PSE showed on Tuesday.
Brent oil rose towards $110 per barrel on Tuesday, reaching a three month high, supported by lower inventories, firm demand and concern turmoil in Egypt could disrupt supply.
Comments
Comments are closed.