(Aug 12): Europe’s power prices are continuing to soar as another heatwave pushes up cooling demand while also curtailing production. Wednesday’s solar eclipse will also dampen solar output.
Intraday power prices in France and Germany peak well above €300 (RM1,415) per megawatt-hour from 8pm to 9pm local time, according to EPEX Spot data. That is above the day-ahead price set on Tuesday for the same period, indicating the market has tightened.
France’s nuclear fleet, considered the backbone of Europe’s power system, has taken a big hit this summer as high river temperatures have left some plants unable to use the water for cooling, forcing reactors to curb output or shut down. An influx of jellyfish at a site on the country’s northern coast has compounded the problem, knocking out more than three gigawatts of generation this week.
The reduction in French nuclear output is also being felt elsewhere in Europe, leaving France with less power available to export to neighbouring markets, EON chief executive officer Leonhard Birnbaum said on a press call Wednesday.
“We clearly right now see a very hot summer that is curtailing output, which is going to lead to short-term distortions,” Birnbaum told Bloomberg TV ahead of the press call. “We have a very volatile environment and we have additional resilience challenges coming in this case from the heatwave.”
Meanwhile, an eclipse will block solar generation across much of the region later Wednesday. While the impact will vary depending on the timing of the eclipse and the size of each country’s solar fleet, Europe’s output could fall by about 9.7 gigawatts between 7.15 and 9.30pm, according to a forecast from Entso-e, the group of European power grid operators.
In the UK, a little over one gigawatt of solar generation could be blocked, according to the National Energy System Operator. The grid operator has warned about tight margins for Wednesday evening, asking market participants to offer spare generation to help meet demand during the eclipse.
A high-pressure heat dome is set to drive up temperatures through the weekend, with parts of France hitting 40°C, according to government forecaster Météo-France. London could see a high of 37°C on Thursday, according to the UK Met Office.
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