German power prices have hit new highs across the curve as oil continues its ascent following the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.
The year-ahead baseload stood at Eur40.45/MWh Friday, up 30 euro cents on the day and the third consecutive day the contract has hit a five-year high. The last time a year-ahead baseload closed at a higher price was April 15, 2013, at Eur40.80/MWh, S&P Global Platts data shows.
Geopolitical risks with higher oil prices were the main driver for the most recent power price surge, traders said. In the space of a week the European benchmark contract, the German year-ahead, has gained Eur2/MWh.
EUAs for December 2018 hit a new multi-year high of Eur14.79/mt in the morning, before easing to Eur14.65/MWh.
CIF ARA coal for front-year delivery was last seen more than $1 higher from Thursday's close at $87.80/mt.
Liquidity returned after Thursday's public holiday in major European markets.
HIGHER WIND EASES DAY-AHEAD
Day-ahead prices eased as higher wind generation is expected from the weekend after a low-wind scenario of only 3 GW average output on Friday.
Baseload power for Monday delivery was last seen at Eur36/MWh, down Eur3.50 before the 11:00 am London time close compared with Friday's price, while the peakload fell Eur1.50 to Eur41/MWh.
Combined wind and solar production is expected to be at 20.5 GW during Monday's peak hours, up around 7 GW from Friday, spotrenewables forecast.
While wind generation is set to rise more than 9 GW to 11 GW during peak hours, solar generation was forecast to fall by over 2 GW to 9.5 GW.