Flows of German power into neighboring Central Western European countries jumped in February, with more than 2.5 TWh of power exported for the first time using flow-based market coupling, a Platts analysis of CASC.EU data shows.
During the 29 days of February, German flows into France and the Netherlands totaled 2.55 TWh, or 87.9 GWh a day, an increase of 39% from January, when 63.1 GWh of power was pushed into neighboring countries' grids each day.
The export figures are more than the nameplate capacity of the giant Jaenschwalde lignite power plant on the German-Polish border, currently offered for sale by Sweden's Vattenfall.
Periods of high winds in February, coupled with ongoing milder-than-average conditions, has seen Germany's arsenal of wind turbines generate a surfeit of power during February, with a significant proportion consumed in neighboring countries.
Germany remained the only CWE nation with a net exporting position for the fifth consecutive month, with net import volumes into France, Belgium and the Netherlands all increasing on the month.
Dutch inflows jumped more than 200 GWh on the month to just 700 MW shy of 950 GWh, while flows into France edged up 13 GWh on the month to 1.18 TWh, the data shows.
Belgium increased its consumption of imported power, despite an increase in self-sufficiency since the controversial restart of around half its nuclear fleet, with 418 GWh power imported in February compared with just 43 GWh in January.
HEFTY GERMAN EXPORTS AID PRICE CONVERGENCE
Discrepancies in the price of hourly exchange-traded contracts largely decreased during February, as impressive volumes of German power were able to spread through the highly interconnected region to iron out supply and demand imbalances.
During February, the premium carried by hourly French contracts over those in Germany was just Eur3.54/MWh, down from Eur4.57/MWh in January and closing on a third of the record premium of Eur9.32/MWh seen in December, the data shows.
The improved supply situation in Belgium fed through to increased pricing correlation with French and Dutch markets, in which hourly contracts averaged at a Eur0.14/MWh premium and Eur0.20/MWh discount, respectively.
The only spread to widen on the month was that across the German-Netherlands border, with the increased cost associated with Dutch power increasing by 66 euro cent to Eur3.20/MWh, the data shows.
In the OTC market, Platts assessments of day-ahead markets in the CWE region showed a similar trend.
The average premium carried by French day-ahead baseload power compared to the same contract in Germany fell from Eur4.23/MWh in January to Eur3.75/MWh in February, while spreads between Belgium and French and Dutch markets also narrowed.
