Surge in wind power output hits European spot power prices

FRANKFURT – 12 September 2017:Soaring wind power production levels drove up supply and cut the prices of spot positions in the European wholesale power market on Tuesday.

Germany’s day-ahead baseload power contract was 44.4 percent down on the day at 16 euros ($19.16) a megawatt hour (MWh) , which is usually a level seen at low-demand weekends.

The equivalent French contract for Wednesday delivery was 18 percent down at 27.25 euros/MWh in the interconnected region.

Thomson Reuters data showed German wind turbine output on Wednesday at a possible 29 gigawatts (GW) compared with a level of 18 GW expected for Tuesday and nearly two-thirds of all installed capacity. ($1 = 0.8351 euros)