German day-ahead power prices rose Tuesday to their highest level in OTC trading in 11 weeks as planned maintenance at the 1.4 GW Neckarwestheim-2 reactor reduced nuclear output amid just average renewables output and demand fully returning after the summer holidays, according to sources.
Baseload power for day-ahead delivery was last heard OTC Eur2.10 higher at Eur38.50/MWh, while peakload last traded Eur3.10 higher at Eur43.50/MWh, the highest closing levels for OTC day-ahead since June 25, Platts data shows.
However, Epex Spot settled Tuesday below OTC as well as down on the day at Eur37.61/MWh baseload and Eur42/MWh peakload, after an above-OTC settlement Monday surprised many market players and already boosted Wednesday's OTC price in the previous session.
Wind power output was forecast to fall back to 4 GW for average baseload hours Wednesday with most of the wind forecast for the first half of Wednesday, according to a market source.
Solar was forecast little changed at around 9 GW for average peakload hours Wednesday, the source said.
During August, wind output averaged 4.4 GW for baseload hours, while solar remained below 10 GW during average peakload hours during the month, according to Platts PowerVision data.
Germany's installed wind and solar portfolio now stands above 73 GW.
Nuclear availability remains reduced at 10.6 GW after the Neckarwestheim 2 reactor was taken offline Saturday for annual maintenance scheduled to last until September 29, according to plant operator EnBW.
Coal and lignite plant availability was forecast slightly lower on day just below 30 GW for Wednesday, according to EEX transparency data.
On the curve, October base eased 40 euro cents to trade at Eur34.30/MWh.
Further forward, Calendar 2015 dropped 20 euro cents to trade at Eur35.40/MWh just before noon London time.
