UK spot power prices recovered Monday's losses on Tuesday as higher demand and lower wind output forecasts boosted the market, while an expected slump in wind in the latter half of the working week pushed prompt contracts further higher, sources said.
Baseload power for Wednesday delivery was valued at GBP52.75/MWh before the 11am London time market close, rising GBP7 on the day. The Wednesday peakload power contract surged GBP8.40 on the day to close at GBP60/MWh.
On the N2EX and APX exchanges, the UK spot base auction cleared below the OTC contract at GBP48.46/MWh, with block 5 (3pm-7pm) power price settling at GBP64.18/MWh on Tuesday.
On the near term, baseload power for Thursday delivery was bid and offered at GBP70/MWh and GBP80/MWh in Tuesday trade, much higher than even the Wednesday peakload contract.
It "looks like wind will drop off significantly," which has lifted the prompt market, a trader said.
Peak wind power generation is expected to slide to 5.6 GW Wednesday, a touch below Tuesday's forecast of 5.9 GW, data from National Grid showed, with wind output seen around 2 GW Thursday.
At midday Tuesday, wind power farms accounted for 14% of the energy mix, generating nearly 5 GW of power.
Gas-fired power stations generated 45.4% of the UK's electricity supplies, contributing 15.3 GW of power to the system, while coal and nuclear power plants produced 3.4 GW (10%) and 8.2 GW (24.4%) respectively, National Grid data showed.
Electricity imports from France, Ireland and the Netherlands slumped to zero at midday, National Grid said.
Power demand Wednesday is expected to rise by 1 GW on the day to 43 GW.
