UK prompt power prices bounced back on Friday, mirroring gains on the UK spot gas market, despite reduced summer demand, higher solar output and forecasts of rising wind generation.
On the OTC market, the baseload power for Monday delivery jumped to GBP37.40/MWh before Platts 11:00 am London time close, adding more than one pound in value.
The peakload power for Monday delivery also posted gains, rising 95 pence above Thursday's assessment for Friday, to trade at GBP41.40/MWh.
Peak demand for Monday is forecast at 36.2 GW, below Friday's maximum power demand of 37.3 GW, according to the latest National Grid data at midday Friday.
On the supply side, peak wind output is set to increase to 1.9 GW on Saturday, up from peak wind forecast of 971 MW on Friday. At midday Friday wind output fell below expectations of 571 MW to contribute 436 MW to the grid, accounting for 1.3% of the total energy mix in the UK.
At the same time, power generation from solar surged to more than 1 GW at midday Friday, representing 3% of UK's generation mix, while biomass, which grabbed a similar market share, contributed 1.2 GW to the system, according to National Grid data.
Nuclear power output fell below 8 GW during peakload hours for the first time this week to 7.8 GW at midday Friday, the grid data showed. Earlier in the day, EDF Energy's 550-MW Dungeness B nuclear reactor 21 was taken offline and is expected to remain unavailable to the grid for the next seven days.
Meanwhile, gas-fired power generation increased further to 44.5% at midday Friday to 16.4 GW, up from around 43% seen at midday Thursday.
In the gas market, the NBP within-day was up at 39.75 pence/therm at 11:00 am London time, while the day-ahead posted jumped to 39.75 p/th.
