Nordic Front-Month Reaches Early June High

Nordic front-month power base load closed at its highest price since the beginning of June as it was supported by the neighbouring European power markets amid rises in the energy complex on 2 July. But the contract could come under downward pressure in today’s session as German power is trending downward amid slight falls in TTF.

• Nordic Base Power AUG 24 closed a 33.55 EUR/MWh on 2 July
  
• Germany Base Power AUG 24 down 1% at 77.06 EUR/MWh
• EUA DEC 24 up 0.2% at 70.78 EUR/MT
• TTF Gas AUG 24 down 1.1% at 33.325 EUR/MWh
• The Nordic front-month contract is now in line with its closing price on 4 June and has been on three-session upward trend.
• But nuclear maintenance in August is still anticipated, with the 1.04GW Forsmark unit 1 fully offline over 19-26 August with its capacity varying from 0 to full capacity 26 August-15 September.
• The 1.13GW Ringhals unit 4 will also be fully disconnected over 15 August-13 September.
• Closer in, Nordic nuclear capacity is at 79% today, unchanged on the day, as10 out of the 11 units are online, according to Bloomberg.
• The Forsmark unit 1 and Ringhals unit 4 are both operating at 50% of the capacity, with the Ringhals 3 still expected to return to the grid on 13 July.
• However, parts of northwest Europe, including Germany, will see the return of hot weather next week, increasing power demand for air conditioning, according to Weather Services International. This could raise power prices in neighbouring EU states – and lift Nordic power prices.
• But forecasts for precipitation point to rainfall being mostly above the seasonal average of about 3mm over 4-12 July on dropping below on 8-9 July and 12 July.