London (Platts)--4Dec2012/922 am EST/1422 GMT

German prompt power prices rebounded Tuesday on the back of a drop in wind power output with the colder weather now expected to last longer, pushing week-ahead contracts higher, market sources said.

Baseload power for day-ahead delivery rose more than Eur5 to Eur54.10/MWh, while day-ahead peakload power was last heard OTC before 12:00 London time at Eur65.85/MWh, up almost Eur7 on the day.

Epex Spot settled Wednesday just above OTC at Eur54.86/MWh for base, while peakload cleared at Eur66.29/MWh.

Further out on the prompt, the week-ahead contract was Eur2.75 higher at Eur55.75/MWh for base and Eur3.75 higher at Eur72.50/MWh for peakload. "Nordpool and France are getting bullish on the cold and that is also pushing Germany higher," a trader said.

Wind power output was forecast to drop to 6 GW for average baseload hours Wednesday, down from peaks above 10 GW Tuesday, according to a market source. Meanwhile, solar power output was forecast at around 1 GW for average peakload hours Wednesday, too little to make a real impact beyond a couple of midday hours, sources said.

Conventional plant availability was seen slightly lower with lignite availability falling 0.5 GW to 19.5 GW, while hard coal remained at 13.7 GW, and nuclear availability at full 12.1 GW, according to EEX transparency.

Demand was also seen higher with Tuesday's highest load forecast at 73 GW for hour 19, according to the latest available data from European grid portal Entso-E.

Temperatures across Germany are forecast to drop further below the seasonal norm with CustomWeather pegging Dusseldorf at 4 C below the 7-2 C norm Wednesday, falling to 7 C below the norm by next Monday.

On the near curve, January base was heard just 10 euro cent higher at Eur49.85/MWh, while Q1 base added 5 euro cent to Eur48.55/MWh.

Further forward, Cal 13 base shed 5 euro cent to trade at Eur46.20/MWh just before 12:00 London time.