Surge in wind power output hits German spot

Workers build a wind turbine close to the city Luckau in the south of federal state Brandenburg, Germany, July 21, 2016. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

PARIS (Reuters) - European spot electricity prices for day-ahead delivery tumbled on Tuesday on the back of a sharp jump in wind power supply in Germany and a fall in demand in France, while forward power prices retreated from previous-day highs as crude oil fell. Power supply from German renewable wind sources will rise by almost 15 gigawatts (GW) day-on-day on Wednesday to 16.5 GW, according to Thomson Reuters data. Solar output will also remain high at about 4.7 GW on Wednesday although down by 840 megawatts (MW) compared with the previous day. The increased availability will weigh on prices despite demand rising by 880 MW to more than 70 GW. In France, wind and solar electricity output is also expected to rise by a combined 340 MW day-on-day, while demand will fall by 550 MW. The German baseload power price for Wednesday delivery fell 12.25 euros, or 32.24 percent, to 25.75 euros ($28.96) per megawatt-hour (MWh) compared with the price paid for Tuesday. The equivalent French contract slipped 3 cents, or 0.70 percent, to 42.5 euros euros/MWh. French spot prices will remain under pressure despite a fall in French nuclear power availability, seen at 59.85 percent of capacity compared with 61.90 percent the previous day following an unplanned outage at its 1,300 MW Golfech 2 nuclear reactor on Monday. France depends on nuclear power for about 75 percent of its electricity needs. Prices along the forward power curve pulled back from their highest levels since mid-July on Tuesday as oil fell. Crude futures fell further as optimism faded for an output-limiting deal during an oil producer meeting in Algeria that so far has failed to yield any agreement to curb one of the worst supply gluts in history. The benchmark German Cal'17 year-ahead baseload power contract fell 0.71 percent to 27.95 euros/MWh. The less liquid equivalent French contract was down 35 cents at 35.50 euros/MWh. European 2017 coal rose 0.49 percent to $61.35 a tonne. Front-year EU carbon allowances fell 1.95 percent to 4.53 euros a tonne after the European Union sold 3.664 million spot EU carbon permits on EEX at 4.51 euros per tonne each on Tuesday. In eastern European power, the Czech year-ahead 2017 contract fell 1 percent to 28.63 euros/MWh, while the spot for Wednesday tumbled 6.5 euros, or 17.11 percent, to 38 euros/MWh. (Reporting by Bate Felix, editing by Louise Heavens)