London (Platts)--27Dec2012/1256 pm EST/1756 GMT
UK prompt power prices softened Thursday as strengthening winds boosted supply further and demand levels remain low following the Christmas holidays, market sources said. On the OTC market, day-ahead baseload was last heard at GBP45.45/MWh, just GBP1.55 below where Thursday's price was assessed on Monday, while peakload power last traded at GBP53/MWh. "Everything's fairly flat, nothing is moving today," a trader said, noting that there was very little trading activity further out on the prompt with many market participants still away from their desks due to the holiday period. There was also little change on the N2EX day-ahead baseload power auction which outturned at GBP45.51/MWh from Wednesday's GBP46.71/MWh result. Although peak daily power demand is set to rise slightly from 46.6 GW Thursday evening to 47 GW at the same time Friday, demand remains well below the previous week's levels of 50 GW, National Grid data shows. The low demand forecasts were further bolstered by stronger wind forecasts, sources said. Wind output early Thursday morning touched highs of just over 3 GW, but is expected to reach record output levels of 4.8 GW Friday night. In addition, nuclear generation saw little change from 8.2 GW Wednesday to 8.3 GW Thursday, National Grid data shows, following the return of the 550 MW Dungeness B-21 reactor late Monday. Helping to offset lower wind levels Thursday are strong continental power imports at just over 1.6 GW, or 3.6% of the energy mix. Coal- and gas-fired generation remain dominant at 18.5 GW and 9.5 GW respectively to make up 68% of the total energy mix. Meanwhile the bearish NBP gas market weighed on the power market as gas demand waned due to mild temperatures, a market source said. The day-ahead gas price was last heard at 62.10 p/th, more than 3 p/th lower week-on-week, while January gas shed 0.20 p/th from Monday to 64.25 p/th. As a result, baseload power for January delivery edged down 35 pence from Monday's close to GBP48.75/MWh by midday.