Week 41
The Haven Power Market Report is a weekly pricing report that analyses and explains energy market fluctuations over the past 7 days.
For a more in-depth analysis from the company’s Flex & Portfolio Management team, speak to Haven Power directly on 01473 707755 quoting reference HP250.
Seasonal Contracts
Secure and Promote* (Season +1, +2, +3, +4) baseload contracts gained on average £0.40/MWh over the course of the week. The first 3 seasons all reached their peak during Thursday afternoon’s session of trading, supported by gains on the National Balancing Point (NBP). Despite softness in the coal market, prices strengthened heading into the weekend. This was largely driven by the on-going concern over French nuclear availability for winter 2017-18, after a re-announcement that outages at the Tricastin 3 reactor will extend into mid-November.
Prompt/Day-ahead Power
The average day-ahead baseload price was down almost £2/MWh on the previous week at £44.19/MWh. The maximum price of £47.20/MWh was for delivery on Sunday 8th, coinciding with the lowest wind output for the week. The cheapest delivery day was 2nd October, when wind output was at its highest; the average wind output for the week was 7.9GW.
Imbalance Prices
Cashout prices over the week averaged £44.96/MWh; a similar level to last week, albeit with a smaller range between maximum and minimum price outcomes. The lowest cashout price (-£1.41/MWh) occurred during settlement period 7 (03:00 to 03:30) on 2nd October. The highest price (£120.82/MWh), during settlement period 41 on 6th October, coincided with a drop off in wind output: down to less than 3.5GW. Since this was lower than forecast, pumped storage was called on to balance the system.
Renewables and other
Average wind output was significantly higher than the previous week, with an average of 7.9GW. Monday 2nd October saw the windiest conditions, with an output level of 11.8GW. With the shortening days, solar generation is becoming an increasingly smaller part of the UK fuel mix, with mean output during the past week of 1GW.
*For more information about Secure and Promote, please consult this Ofgem web page.
Disclaimer
Although all reasonable efforts have been made to verify the information in this report and provide the highest possible accuracy, no warranty, express or implied, is given by Haven Power Limited in respect of this information. Furthermore, the provision of this report does not constitute advice of any kind and should not be taken as the basis for any commercial or financial decisions. Any such decision should be made on the basis of your own records, knowledge and perception of power market data, supplemented with appropriate independent expert advice when required.
This is a promoted article.