EUROPE POWER-Spot prices down as wind supply seen rising
PARIS, Jan 11 (Reuters) - European spot power contracts fell on Wednesday as wind power supply was expected to rise throughout the region and demand was seen lower in Germany.
Similar behaviour is expected day-on-day where residual load is dropping on a stronger wind supply, Refinitiv analysts said in an online note.
German baseload power for delivery on Thursday plummeted 32.5% to 64.50 euros ($69.30) a megawatt-hour (MWh) at 1017 GMT.
The equivalent French price fell 25.5% to 76 euros/MWh.
Daily wind power output in Germany was forecast to rise by 8 gigawatts (GW) day-on-day to 41.2 GW on Thursday, while France's wind supply was expected to gain 2.5 GW to 14.7 GW, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
French nuclear availability was unchanged at 75% of total capacity.
France was a net exporter of 4.3 GW earlier as nuclear production has ramped up in recent weeks, data from the French grid operator RTE showed.
May was the last month when France had a net export balance, an RTE spokesperson told Reuters.
A national strike in France was called for on Jan. 19, and power supply is expected to be disrupted, a representative from hard left trade union FNME-CGT said.
Power consumption in Germany was seen down 1.8 GW to 61.7 GW on Thursday, while demand in France is set to add 1.9 GW to 59 GW, the data showed.
Temperatures are expected to drop next week, but the weather system should bring enough wind generation to take pressure off of power demand, Emeric de Vigan, vice president of power at data and analytics firm Kpler said in a tweet.
German baseload for 2024 delivery fell 3.1% to 187 euros/MWh.
The equivalent French contract was untraded with an ask price of 210 euros.
European CO2 allowances for December 2023 expiry fell 0.3% to 80.27 euros a tonne. ($1 = 0.9308 euros) (Reporting by Forrest Crellin; editing by Jon Boyle)
