German spot surges on tighter wind supply

PARIS: German prompt power prices jumped with wind power in Germany expected to drop to just over a third of Wednesday's output, while the French price edged up.

German baseload power for Thursday climbed 51.6% to 69.75 euros ($84.94) per megawatt hour (MWh) by 1055 GMT.

The equivalent French contract was up 4.7% at 72.25 euros/MWh.

German wind power is set to plummet 23.1 gigawatts (GW) on Thursday to 13.7 GW, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

Residual load is lifted on a significantly weaker wind supply day on day, Refinitiv analysts said, adding the the situation is neutral to bearish in the surrounding Central Western European area.

Power supply from wind turbines in Germany is set to drop again on Friday, the data showed.

French wind power is expected to rise by 1.8 GW to 7 GW, the data showed.

French nuclear availability fell 2.2 GW as the Cattenom 1 and Blayais 1 reactors had unplanned outages.

France's power and gas unions called for strikes at French power groups Engie and other gas companies on Jan. 14 and at EDF on Jan. 19 over planned reforms.

On the demand side, Germany is expected to register a day-on-day consumption rise of 1.4 GW to 65.1 GW, the data showed.

French consumption is expected to fall 1.9 GW to 70.7 GW.

Average temperatures are expected to fall through the weekend in Germany, Refinitiv Eikon data showed, while the average temperature in France is expected to rise again on Thursday but start falling on Friday.

Along the curve, German Cal '22 baseload power dropped 1.7% to 50.75 euros/MWh, tracking falling carbon prices.

December 2021 expiry European CO2 allowances lost 1.9% to 34 euros a tonne.

Hard coal for northern European delivery in 2022 reached its highest since April 2019 at $74.25 a tonne.