All wholesale power and gas contracts rose this week. Prices have been supported by the recovery of commodity prices, below seasonal normal temperatures and tighter supply margins amid nuclear outages and weaker wind generation. With half of UK nuclear capacity offline due to planned and unplanned outages this week, day-ahead baseload power was up 3.1% from the previous week to £64.4/MWh. All seasonal baseload power contracts went up week-on-week, rising 3.8% on average. Gas contracts also rose this week, with day-ahead gas up 5.4% to 62.5p/th, as gas for heating demand went up towards the end of the week following much colder temperatures. February and March 19 gas climbed 1.6% and 1.2% to 62.9p/th and 60.7p/th respectively. Seasonal gas contracts were up 2.7% on average, with summer 19 gas increasing 3.3% to 55.3p/th, following oil prices higher. Brent crude oil prices rose for the second consecutive week, up 1.2% to average $60.6/bl. Prices have risen as data showed OPEC’s production cuts coming into effect, despite news that US crude production hit a record 11.9mn bpd the previous week, up from 11.7mn bpd the week before. EU ETS carbon prices recovered from last week’s decline, rising 3.8% to average €23.2/t. Within-day carbon prices reached a high of €24.7/t on 18 January, the highest since 3 January. API 2 coal prices went up for the first time in three weeks, increased 2.9% to average $84.6/t. Coal prices have been supported by colder temperatures across Europe, increasing demand for coal-fired power generation.
Baseload electricity | ||
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Forward curve comparison | Annual April Contract | |
Peak electricity | ||
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Forward curve comparison | Annual April contract | |
Seasonal power prices | ||
Seasonal baseload power contracts | Seasonal baseload power curve | |
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Commodity price movements | ||
Oil and Coal | Carbon | |
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Wholesale price snapshot |