EUROPE POWER-European front-year contracts jump as gas costs rise
PARIS, June 8 (Reuters) - European forward curve power contracts climbed on Thursday on resurgent gas and carbon prices and longer than expected maintenance at some French nuclear plants.
"The forward market was previously short and remains nervous, and is now correcting," Kpler power analyst Emeric de Vigan said.
French nuclear availability dropped below 58% as the Cattenom 4 reactor was taken offline for unplanned maintenance.
The restart of the Penly 1 reactor was moved back 15 days to June 26 while planned maintenance on the Chinon 1 reactor is expected to take an extra month, delaying the restart to Dec. 12, operator EDF data showed.
EDF returns to full state ownership on Thursday with its de-listing from the Paris stock exchange after it suffered a record loss last year and saw nuclear output fall to a 34-year low.
The German baseload power contract for 2024 delivery had jumped 7.1% to 125.25 euros ($134.41) per megawatt hour (MWh) by 1009 GMT.
The upward movement of the German contract is in line with a slight carbon permit price increase, Refinitiv analyst Nathalie Gerl said.
The equivalent French contract surged 9.6% to 171 euros/MWh.
European CO2 allowances for December 2023 expiry rose 0.9% to 84.28 euros a tonne.
On the spot side, prices edged up as German demand is seen rising and French wind supply is set to fall.
At an hourly level, the residual load in Germany is higher from the early morning to early afternoon and lower during the rest of the day, Refinitiv analysts said.
German baseload power for delivery on Friday edged up 0.6% to 83.50 euros/MWh, while equivalent French prices added 1.3% to 80 euros/MWh.
Daily wind power output in Germany was forecast to rise 2.8 gigawatts (GW) to 8.1 GW on Friday, with French wind output down 1.7 GW to 2.2 GW, Eikon data showed.
German solar power supply is expected to increase 1.2 GW to 13.6 GW.
German consumption is set to increase 2.9 GW on Friday to 52.1 GW, while demand in France is seen edging up 220 megawatts (MW) to 42.5 GW, Eikon data showed.
($1 = 0.9319 euros) (Reporting by Forrest Crellin Editing by Mark Potter)
