Electricity for next month rose to records across northwest Europe, boosted by reductions in French nuclear supply and soaring coal prices. Next-month power in France, Germany, the U.K. and the Nordic region reached records, according to broker and exchange data compiled by Bloomberg. Year-ahead German electricity, a European benchmark, increased to a 14-month high. Power contracts in France surged after EDF cut the output targets for its 58 French reactors on Sept. 21 to include additional safety checks at a dozen units in 2016 and 2017, which impacted prices neighboring countries with connecting power cables including Germany and the U.K. A 63 percent jump in coal this year is boosting longer-dated electricity contracts, according to Bayerische Landesbank, driven by lower domestic production in top user China.
Bloomberg 6th Oct 2016 read more »