EU wind generation falls to 8-week low, surge ahead for Northern Europe

EU wind power generation fell to the lowest in almost two months averaging 33.6 GW in the seven days to Nov. 14, data aggregated by WindEurope showed.

Weekly wind production of 5.64 TWh was down 34% on the week prior and well below October's 51 GW average.

The lull in wind stretching into week 46 saw spot power prices for Nov. 15 soar with Central West Europe above Eur200/MWh, exchange data show.

S&P Global Platts assessed UK baseload power for Nov. 15 on Nov. 12 at GBP247.50/MWh (Eur289.95/MWh).

Wind was forecast to rebound strongly from Nov.17 with EuroWind's spotrenewables.com pegging Germany above 20 GW from Nov.17 compared to 2 GW for Nov. 16.

German spot power averaged around Eur173/MWh in the week to Nov. 14, the second highest on record, as average wind generation halved to just 9 GW.

Year-to-date wind production across Europe's big five markets including Great Britain trails 2020 by 10% or 25 TWh - the energy equivalent of roughly 5 bcm of natural gas if burned in a standard 50% efficient power plant.

Generation costs for such a standard gas plant in NW Europe eased to Eur152.62/MWh after spiking well above Eur200/MWh early October, Platts data show.