Spot prices drop significantly after stormy week

Last week, we saw a brief decrease in wind at the beginning of the week. In both the Netherlands and Germany, this led to a significant increase in the residual demand on Monday evening. After Tuesday, the wind picked up significantly, with the peak being the storm Ciarán on Thursday. Wind speeds at various heights at times exceeded 30 meters per second, with wind gusts far above 30 meters per second. Several offshore parks likely had reduced power generation as a result.
During the week, gas prices decreased. The average gas price was 42.8 €/MWh, making it slightly more than 5 euros cheaper than the previous week. Unsurprisingly, the Dutch power spot price was much lower due to the significant wind generation. On average, the spot price was 66.8 €/MWh, a decrease of nearly 34 euros compared to the previous week.
For December, the gas price dropped by 5 euros to 48.1 €/MWh. January and February also saw decreases to 49.9 and 50.5 €/MWh, respectively. Gas inventories are currently maximally filled in Europe, and temperatures have been rather mild.
The Dutch power price for December decreased further. By the end of the week, the forward price had dropped by about 15 euros, closing at 100.9 €/MWh. For the coming months, power prices also decreased: January closed about 9 euros lower at 124.9, and February closed nearly 8 euros lower at 129.5 €/MWh. Once again, the clean spark spread for December dropped significantly, with the Dutch spark spread decreasing by around 5 euros to -18.7 €/MWh. For January and February, the spark spreads increased slightly, remaining positive at 0.3 and 3.8 €/MWh, respectively.

Last week, the Dutch national grid operator, TenneT, announced that the company would need to invest more due to the increasing demand for electricity and network capacity. TenneT expects that it has to complete about 700 projects by 2030, nearly double the number expected last year.
For 2024, the gas price decreased. Gas became around 4 euros cheaper and ended the week at 49.7 €/MWh. CO2 prices dropped by one and a half euros to 81.5 €/EUA. The Dutch power price decreased by 6 euros to 116.8 €/MWh. The spark spread improved by about 2 euros but remained negative at -7.4 €/MWh.

Weekly changes