German day-ahead power prices inched higher Monday as wind power output was forecast to dip going into Tuesday ahead of a new surge with Wednesday baseload trading again below Eur30/MWh, sources said.
Baseload power for day-ahead delivery was last heard OTC Eur2.90 above where Monday power closed Friday at Eur30.80/MWh, but still more than Eur10 below last week's Tuesday price.
Tuesday peakload last traded OTC at Eur35.80/MWh, Eur1.80 above Monday's price on Friday, but again more than Eur10 below last week's Tuesday peakload assessment.
Epex Spot settled Tuesday above OTC at Eur31.13/MWh baseload and Eur36.17/MWh peakload.
Wind power generation was set to remain above average levels, with Tuesday's average baseload forecast above 10 GW with spikes above 20 GW possible on Wednesday, according to a market source.
Solar output was forecast to drop to 2 GW for average peakload hours Tuesday, according to another source.
Germany's installed wind and solar portfolio now stands just below 75 GW.
Last October, wind output averaged 7.3 GW for baseload hours, while solar averaged 5.1 GW for peakload hours.
Nuclear availability remained at the full 12 GW capacity, with all nine German reactors online, according to plant operator data. Coal and lignite availability was pegged at 35 GW for Tuesday, EEX transparency data showed.
Further out on the prompt, week-ahead contracts were trading considerably higher amid a reduced wind power forecast and the end of summer time, according to sources.
Week 44 baseload was heard at Eur34.25/MWh, compared with a Friday close of Eur30/MWh for week 43 baseload.
On the near curve, November baseload was heard unchanged at Eur35.25/MWh.
Further forward, year-ahead baseload again dropped below Eur34/MWh, trading at Eur33.90/MWh, down 15 euro cents from Friday's close.
