French prompt power prices fell Thursday after demand forecasts for Friday and into next week were revised lower amid an expected increase in wind generation in France and Germany, sources said.
Friday baseload was last heard trading at Eur54.75/MWh, down Eur1.75 from Thursday's close of Wednesday baseload, while Friday peakload was last heard trading Eur5.50 lower at Eur63.50/MWh.
Epex Spot settled the auction for day-ahead baseload at Eur53.92/MWh and peakload at Eur61.63/MWh.
Temperatures in Paris were in line with the norm Thursday and were due to remain at the same level before jumping to 3 degrees Celsius above the norm Sunday and 5 C above next week, according to forecaster CustomWeather.
Week-ahead baseload was last heard trading 25 euro cent lower at Eur43/MWh.
On the demand side, RTE forecast load would rise to 75.4 GW Friday from 70.6 GW in peak hour 12:00 Thursday. Despite the rise in demand expected for hour 12:00, load was revised down on the day Thursday, a trader said.
"Spot deliveries have been quite bullish in the past days but it turned bearish today," a trader said.
"The main driver is on the demand side...demand is lower than previously forecast while renewable and thermal generation are slightly better than forecasts, pushing prices a bit down," he said.
Wind infeed was seen stronger Friday, due to jump from 1.4 GW at peak times Thursday to 2.4 GW during peakload hours Friday, while in Germany, wind turbines are set to generate more than 11 GW during peakload hours, according to http://spotrenewables.com.
On the supply side, hydro generation, at 8.7 GW in hour 12:00 Thursday made up 12% of the French power generation mix. Gas burn was 7.2 GW in the same peak hour, making up 10% of total generation, while coal output, at 2 GW, accounted for 3% of the mix.
Nuclear output was strong Thursday at 52.5 GW, despite EDF having unexpectedly reduced output at two of its nuclear reactors, the 900-MW Cruas-3 and Chinon-3, for unplanned maintenance.
