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German weekend power prices hit August high on reduced solar, outages

https://www.chemnet.com   Sep 01,2014 Platts
German weekend power prices closed Friday at their highest level since the end of July, supported by a host of factors, sources said.

Solar power was forecast to remain below average, while a number of coal-plant outages limited supply further amid a return to normal demand levels following the end of the summer holidays across the regions, with French prices also recovering from summer lows, they said.

Power for delivery this weekend was last heard at Eur26.45/MWh, down 80 euro cents from Thursday's close, but Eur6 above last weekend's price and almost double the previous weekend's close.

Saturday base closed at Eur28.10/MWh, with Epex Spot settling the contract below OTC at Eur27.59/MWh. Sunday base was heard at Eur24.50/MWh.

Baseload power for delivery Monday was last heard OTC before noon local time at Eur36.20/MWh, 45 euro cents below where Friday power closed on Thursday. Monday peakload was heard 30 euro cents above Friday's price at Eur41.50/MWh.

Wind power output was forecast to rise to around 5 GW for average baseload hours this weekend, while solar power output was forecast to remain below average levels at 8 GW for average peakload hours Saturday and Sunday, according to a market source.

However, solar output was forecast to recover early next week at the expense of wind power with more sunny and stable weather predicted for the start of September, sources said.

Nuclear availability remained near full 12 GW capacity with all nine German reactors available to the grid, according to plant operator data.

Coal plant availability for Saturday was pegged lower at 10.5 GW, with lignite little changed at 16.3 GW, according to EEX transparency data.

RWE reported its 792 MW Ibbenbueren cola-fired power plant offline for the weekend due to a technical problem, while E.ON reported more than 2,000 MW of coal plants unavailable, including those at Heyden and Wilhemshaven, according to the utilities' transparency websites.

On the near curve, September contracts eased on their last trading day before delivery, down 15 euro cents at Eur34.35/MWh, after closing Thursday at their highest level since August 1.

Further forward, Calendar 2015 base fell 10 euro cents to Eur35.75/MWh amid slight losses for EUA carbon allowances.
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