London — European wind power output met 20.1% of the region's power demand Tuesday, narrowly missing a new daily record, WindEurope data showed Wednesday.
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Register NowWind power output averaged 87 GW Tuesday with peaks just below 92 GW during the evening. Output of 2.1 TWh for the day was 100 GWh below the all-time record set December 8, 2018.
Denmark and Germany registered the highest shares of wind in the power mix at 94% and 60% respectively, with spot power prices falling to Eur34.50/MWh on the Epex Spot and NordPool exchanges.
December and January are generally the months with the highest wind generation.
Wind generation across Europe's big five markets (Germany, UK, Spain, France and Italy) increased 9% last year to 251 TWh despite reduced output in December, data from Platts European Renewable Power Tracker show.
Installed wind capacity across Europe was expected to rise above 180 GW by the end of 2018, with WindEurope predicting a slight drop in annual additions to 15 GW for 2018.
Tighter EU carbon market set to prompt more power fuel switching in Europe
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Listen in fullThe amount of energy generated by wind so far this year across Europe (11 TWh) equates to a daily average of 271 million cu m/day of potential gas burn on a 50% plant efficiency basis or 21 LNG standard cargoes in total, Platts renewable energy calculator shows.
Windy weather conditions combined with mild temperatures over recent weeks contributing to a bearish price trend for European power, gas and coal.
Wind is forecast to remain above average for the coming seven days despite a slight dip Thursday, with another storm across Northwestern Europe early next week, the latest forecast by spotrenewables shows.
--Andreas Franke, andreas.franke@spglobal.com
--Edited by Jonathan Dart, newsdesk@spglobal.com