German prompt power prices edged higher Monday despite strengthening wind power generation as reduced solar generation and an extended plant outage was expected to tighten supply, according to sources.
Baseload power for day-ahead delivery was last heard OTC at Eur35.90/MWh, Eur1.40 above where Monday base closed Friday. Tuesday peakload was last heard at Eur40/MWh, more than Eur1 above Monday's price.
Epex Spot settled Tuesday below OTC levels at Eur34.42/MWh for baseload and peakload at Eur38.48/MWh.
Wind power output was forecast to nearly triple from 1.3 GW to 3.6 GW for average baseload hours Tuesday but remain at relatively low levels, according to a market source. Wind power output averaged 3.4 GW for baseload hours in June.
Meanwhile, solar output was forecast to fall further to 5.6 GW during Tuesday's peakload hours, the source said. Solar output averaged 13.4 GW during peakload hours in June, according to Platts PowerVision data.
Nuclear availability will remain below 9 GW Tuesday, with three of Germany's nine reactors currently offline for planned maintenance. The return of E.ON's 1.4 GW Isar 2 reactor has been delayed to Wednesday at 6 am local time, according to E.ON's transparency website.
In addition, E.ON's 345 MW Scholven E coal-fired power plant was taken offline Sunday evening for corrective maintenance, according to the operator, but is scheduled to restart Tuesday at 2 pm.
Coal plant availability for Tuesday was pegged roughly unchanged day on day at 13 GW, with lignite also little changed at 16 GW, according to EEX transparency data.
There was very little change on the curve Monday, with August and Q4 baseload contracts up 5 euro cent at Eur31.20/MWh and Eur37.40/MWh respectively.
After rising more than 3% in the previous week, Cal 2015 base was heard 5 euro cent higher at Eur35.80/MWh, the highest since March 12, Platts data shows.
