Wholesale power and gas contracts fell across the board this week, with many contracts hitting new lows. Day-ahead gas fell to a 20-month low as comfortable supplies and mild temperatures continued. This trend drove day-ahead power prices to a 17-month low, despite lower wind generation. All baseload power contracts fell week-on-week. Day-ahead power was down 7.4% to end the week at £44.0/MWh. The contract fell to £43.1/MWh on 21 March, a fresh 17-month low as the contract followed its gas counterpart lower. All seasonal power contracts continued lower, dropping 2.7% on average. Summer and winter 19 power contracts fell 4.1% and 2.9% to £43.6/MWh and £53.5/MWh respectively, with summer 19 power at a fresh 11-month low. All gas contracts fell week-on-week, as above seasonal normal temperatures continued to drive down gas demand, leaving the gas system oversupplied for most of the week. Day-ahead gas dropped 5.4% to end the week at a 36.9p/th. The contract dropped to a fresh 20-month low of 36.8p/th on 20 March, as two LNG tankers were scheduled to arrive the following day. Seasonal gas contracts decreased 2.8% on average. Summer 19 gas dropped 5.5% to end the week at 36.9p/th, the lowest since June 2016. Brent crude oil prices rose slightly, up 0.9% to average $67.6/bl. Within-day oil prices rose to a fresh four-month high of $68.7/bl on 22 March. API 2 coal prices fell for a third consecutive week, down 3.0% to average $73.5/t. Within-day prices ended the week at $73.0/t, a fresh one-year low.
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 |