French prompt power prices continued to ease Friday amid a mild weather outlook for the final week in October, but contracts further out on the curve rose on the back of higher feedstock fuel prices as well as EUA carbon allowances, according to sources.
Baseload power for weekend delivery was last heard OTC 30 euro cent lower on the day at Eur34/MWh, some 17% below last weekend's closing price.
Saturday baseload was last heard at Eur37.40/MWh with Epex Spot settling again above OTC at Eur39.22/MWh, which pushed Sunday contracts higher after Platts 11 am London time close.
Baseload power for Monday delivery was last heard before midday local time at Eur46.25/MWh, down Eur2.10 from Friday's close on Thursday with Monday peakload just 25 euro cent lower at Eur52.75/MWh.
Week-ahead prices also eased with week 44 baseload trading at Eur42.50/MWh down 75 euro cent on the day.
With a mild weather outlook for week 44 and temperatures just above the seasonal average, peak demand forecasts for next week remained bearish, ranging from 64.9 GW for Monday to 66.7 GW next Thursday, well below forecasts of peak demand above 73 GW earlier this week, RTE's latest load forecast showed.
On the supply side, nuclear generation was up, peaking Friday just below 50 GW, RTE data showed.
Combined wind and solar output was forecast higher on Monday and Tuesday, averaging between 3 and 4 GW for average peakload hours, more than doubling compared to Friday, according to spotrenewables.com.
There were different dynamics on the curve with November baseload rebounding 75 euro cent to Eur41.75/MWh and French Cal 16 baseload up another 10 euro cent at Eur36.70/MWh after reaching a 10-year-low on Wednesday amid a change in sentiment across energy markets with coal, gas as well as EUA carbon allowances rising.
