Mid-Day Power Summary: France June Power Flips

France June power base load is leading declines amid losses in the wider European energy complex and limited expectations of an uptick in power demand for electric cooling, shrugging off upward pressure from the Flamanville 2 reactor outage extension and a downward revision in wind forecasts.

• France Base Power JUN 24 down 3.1% at 33.7 EUR/MWh
• Germany Base Power JUN 24 down 1.6% at 70.76 EUR/MWh
• EUA DEC 24 down 1.5% at 73.48 EUR/MT
• TTF Gas JUN 24 down 0.4% at 33.39 EUR/MWh
• Rotterdam Coal JUN 24 up 0.4% at 112.2 USD/MT
• EU ETS Dec 24 have reversed earlier gains, in line with movements in European gas prices, despite the latest Commitment of Traders data showing investment funds net short positioning in EU ETS futures turning the most bullish since mid-October.
• Front month TTF is edging lower, reversing earlier gains, as curtailed Norwegian flows and Asian LNG appetite is weighed against muted demand and strong seasonal gas storage levels.
• TTF natural gas prices and carbon prices rose by around one-third since the beginning of April, nearing a five-month high, displaying an almost perfect correlation since the beginning of the year, with an average of around 0.9, IEA analyst Greg Molnar said.
• Investment funds net short positions in ICE German power futures turned the most bearish since 26 April, according to the COT data for the week of 24 May.
• The German Epex Spot day ahead base load rose to €97.45/MWh, up from €79.18/MWh the day before, supported by forecasts for low wind, despite anticipated declines in power demand due to a regional holiday in southern Germany.
• EU intra-day (IDAs) power auctions are set to go live on 13 June for delivery on 14 June, confirmed by the Nominated Electricity Market Operators (NEMOs) and TSOs.
• RWE is planning to construct a hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plant at its Werne site, western Germany, with a potential capacity of 800MW, the firm said.
• Germany’s vice chancellor economic minister Robert Habeck remains committed to takeover Dutch TSO TenneT, he said, cited by Rheinische Post.
• Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia have stepped up pressure on Brussels to push back against Germany over a gas tariff they say goes against European energy security measures.
• Switzerland’s hydropower reserves last week increased by 1.2 percentage points last week to 24.9%, widening the deficit to the five-year average to the highest so far this year, BFE data showed.
• Swiss utility Axpo hedged 51TWh of power generation as of the end of March, broadly stable from six months earlier at 52TWh, the firm said during its half-year results.
• Italian PV capacity increased to 32GW at the end of 1Q24, with about 1.7GW of new PV connected to the grid at the end of the quarter, according to Italia Solare.
• Italy’s renewable growth is expected to slow by 2025-26 due to challenges of finding suitable areas for renewable installations and the delay of green subsidy legislation, according to Milan Polytechnic University, cited by montel.
• All 130MW of capacity on the unilateral auction between Ukraine-Poland (Zamosc-Dobrotwor) for June delivery sold, compared to no capacity awarded for May, data from Polish transmission system operator PSE show.