Wednesday 29 September 2010

UK Day-ahead power prices gains 75p despite higher wind forecast

UK prompt power prices increased for the fourth day in a row Wednesday on
the back of higher UK gas prices ,
despite a higher wind forecast for Thursday, said traders.

UK OTC baseload power for next-day delivery gained 75 pence to close at
GBP45.25/MWh by 1200 London time, the fourth consecutive increase in the
contract's price.

The peakload contract was assessed above the GBP50/MWh level for the first
time since July 19--at GBP50.10/MWh--up GBP1.60 on the day.

On the N2EX wholesale power exchange, the day-ahead auction cleared in line
with OTC at GBP45.25/MWh in base, up GBP1.05.

"Margins are still very tight, in the region of 5 to 8 GW...prices can be
quite spiky [intra-day], especially if you lose one unit," a trader said.
"The higher wind is not really impacting the prompt."

UK prompt gas prices strengthened further Wednesday, building on gains made
over Tuesday's session.

At around 1200 UK time Wednesday the within-day gas price was 46.75
pence/therm and the day-ahead gas price was 47.40 p/th. Both were up from
Tuesday evening's closing day-ahead price of 45.90 p/th.

Maximum wind output will reach 1.1 GW Thursday, up 0.8 GW, according to
National Grid. But traders said this would mostly impact the intra-day power
market. Peak supply margins will be 9 GW Wednesday, indicating that the
system will be more comfortable than earlier in the week.


http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/HeadlineNews/ElectricPower
/8005374/

No comments:

Post a Comment