German weekend power prices plunged Friday as wind power output was forecast to rise again towards 30 GW as a second storm system approached Germany, with a third 30 GW potential storm now forecast for the middle of next week, according to sources.
Baseload power for weekend delivery was assessed at Eur15/MWh, down Eur4.40 from Thursday's close and Eur10 below last weekend's price, amid only a handful of weekend delivery prices below Eur15/MWh so far this year, Platts data shows.
Saturday baseload was assessed at Eur16.75/MWh with Epex Spot settling in line with OTC at Eur29.45/MWh. Sunday baseload was last heard OTC before midday local time at Eur12.90/MWh.
Baseload power for Monday delivery was last heard OTC at Eur31/MWh, down Eur1.25 from Friday's close on Thursday with Monday peakload 75 euro cent higher than Friday at Eur37/MWh.
Further out, week-ahead baseload power dropped 65 euro cent to Eur28.75/MWh.
On average, German wind power output was forecast rise from around 18 GW Friday to 25 GW Saturday, falling back below 20 GW from Sunday, according to sources. However, with the remnants of ex-tropical storm Kate on course for Northern Europe, wind output in Germany is forecast to rise again above 30 GW next Wednesday, the seven-day-forecast from spotrenewables.com showed.
This Tuesday, German wind output peaked above 30 GW for the first time this winter season, actual generation data from the country's four TSOs show.
Germany's installed wind power capacity is currently estimated around 44 GW with at least 5 GW of new capacity added over the past 12 months of which more than 2 GW offshore in the German North Sea, Platts Renewable Power Tracker shows.
Conventional plant availability from nuclear, lignite and hard-coal plants was pegged at 41.5 GW for Saturday, data from EEX transparency showed.
On the forward curve, year-ahead contracts continued to slide after reaching fresh 12-year-lows Thursday. The German Cal 16 baseload contract was heard trading OTC at Eur28.51/MWh, a level not seen since 2003, while the Cal 17, Cal 18 and Cal 19 baseload contracts all traded below Eur27/MWh on the EEX exchange.
Background to the renewed weakness on the power curve are falling global commodity prices with coal into Europe falling $2.50 since the start of the month to trade below $46/mt for the first time since at least 2007, while TTF front-year gas fell more than Eur1 so far this month to Eur16.80/MWh, a level not seen for the European gas benchmark contract since the recession in 2009, Platts data shows.
