No interconnection capacity with the United Kingdom in the coming weeks

Last week, temperatures dropped, and several countries saw a significant decline in renewable generation. On Thursday, there was almost no wind, and solar generation was severely limited as well. In recent months, power prices have frequently spiked during evening peaks when renewable generation was low. This time, prices in the evening soared above 936 €/MWh in Germany, with the most expensive hour in the Netherlands reaching 873 €/MWh. The average Dutch power price was 165 €/MWh. Towards the end of the week, wind generation picked up significantly.
Gas prices plummeted: January and February contracts both dropped by 5 euros, closing just above 41 €/MWh. CO2 prices also declined, with the December 2025 contract closing 4 euros lower at 66.5 €/EUA. Coal prices fell slightly, losing just over a euro, but coal plants remain cheaper than gas plants on the forward market this winter. The clean spark spread for January and February is negative, while the clean dark spread is positive. Dutch baseload contracts for January and February dropped by 12 and 9 euros, closing at 98.4 and 101.9 €/MWh, respectively.

Last week, it was announced that the 1 GW interconnector between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands will remain unavailable at least until early February due to a faulty onshore cable. The interconnector has been out of service since early December. Additionally, this week, the UK is also missing import and export capacity with France due to another interconnector outage.
Dutch power for 2025 fell by nearly 7 euros, closing at 86 €/MWh. Gas dropped by 4 euros to 40.5 €/MWh, and the 2026 delivery contract fell by 1.5 euros to 34.5 €/MWh. The Dutch spark spread for 2025 improved by 2 euros, reaching approximately -15 €/MWh.

Weekly changes