French prompt power prices rose Monday as nuclear output remained significantly below forecast levels amid an unplanned outage and reactor delays with slightly colder temperatures boosting demand, according to market sources.
However, the temperature outlook for November remained mild pushing front-month prices lower with November baseload now trading almost Eur10 lower than at the beginning of the month.
Baseload power for day-ahead delivery was last heard OTC Eur2.75 above where Monday power closed Friday at Eur47/MWh.
Tuesday peakload last traded OTC at Eur53.75/MWh, Eur4.50 above Monday's price on Friday.
Epex Spot settled Tuesday just below OTC at Eur46.90/MWh baseload and Eur52.84/MWh peakload.
French nuclear power output remained at just over 46 GW during Monday morning peak hours, around 3 GW below availability forecasts published late last week as EDF stopped Sunday its 0.9 GW Cruas-4 reactor for an unplanned outage and delayed the restart of its 0.9 GW Cruas-1 unit, the latest data from grid operator RTE showed.
The latest nuclear outlook published Monday forecast nuclear availability at 49.1 GW Tuesday with the Cruas-1 and Cruas-4 reactors both scheduled to be fully available to the grid.
French peak power demand is forecast to rise from 61.2 GW Monday evening to 61.8 GW Tuesday and 62.5 GW Wednesday, with peak demand expected to ease later this week as temperatures are set to rise again 2-4 C above seasonal norms, the latest RTE forecast shows.
On the near curve, November base shed Eur1.40 to trade at Eur45.50/MWh, down from levels above Eur54/MWh at the beginning of the month, with no significant cold spell in the long-range weather outlook, according to market sources.
