Spot sinks, German Year-Ahead at 15-month low

Day-ahead power prices on the European wholesale market fell on Wednesday ahead of a holiday in some parts of Germany and the German curve contract sank to its lowest level since March 2022, tracking oil and carbon losses.

Wind and solar supplies were forecast to be higher for Thursday, when industrial, southern states in Germany observe the Corpus Christi holiday and some businesses add a day off on Friday, reducing demand.

German day-ahead baseload (TRDEBD1) traded at 83.0 euros ($88.76) per megawatt hour (MWh) at 0925 GMT, down 18.2% day-on-day.

The equivalent French contract (TRFRBD1) was 8.9% down at 79.8 euros.

German wind power production was forecast to rise to 5.2 gigawatt (GW) on Thursday, adding 500 MW, Refinitiv Eikon data showed. In France, wind energy was predicted to add 100 MW to 3.9 GW.

French nuclear availability remained unchanged at 58% of available capacity.

Demand in Germany was forecast to drop by 5.7 GW to 49.2 GW and in France by 300 MW to 43.9 GW.

German year-ahead baseload (TRDEBYZ4) dropped by 3.5% to 117.8 euros. The equivalent French contract (TRFRBYZ4) lost 1.6% at 154 euros.

European CO2 allowances for December 2023 expiry (CFI2Zc1) shed 1.6% to 80.4 euros a tonne.

The second link of the Grande-Piossasco interconnector between France and Italy will remain offline until June 30 following a malicious act in Italy on May 3, French grid operator RTE said in a bulletin.

EPEX SPOT said a total volume of 56.3 terawatt hours (TWh) was traded in May 2023, representing an increase of 12% year-on-year.

Some 32.2% of German power in the first three months of the year was from wind, federal statistics office data showed, as wind turbines edged past coal as the top provider.

Germany's network regulator wants to provide operators of electricity and gas grids higher returns on equity for their outlays.

($1 = 0.9351 euros)