Dutch and British wholesale gas prices fell on Thursday morning as expectations for higher output from wind farms curbed demand for gas from power plants.

The Dutch benchmark front-month contract TRNLTTFMc1 was down 1.23 euros at 32.90 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0917 GMT, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

The Dutch day-ahead contract TRNLTTFD1 was 1.58 euros lower at 33.05 euros/MWh.

The British equivalent day-ahead contract TRGBNBPD1 fell by 3.5 pence to 82.00 pence per therm.

Peak wind power generation in Britain was forecast at 4.7 gigawatts (GW) on Thursday rising to 11.7 GW on Friday, Elexon data showed.

British gas for-power demand was forecast at 34 million cubic meters (mcm) on Thursday falling to 18 mcm on Friday, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

Similarly strong wind speeds in continental Europe were also expected to lead to high wind power output in the region, dampening gas demand there, Refinitiv analysts said.

However, outages at several Norwegian gas infrastructure sites were likely to help limit a drop in prices, consultancy Auxilione said in a report.

“The return from maintenance of key Norwegian assets in the coming weeks will be watched closely,” Auxilione said.

Maintenance at Norway’s Oseberg gas field and the Karsto processing plant were due to end on Friday, data on operator Gassco’s website showed.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 was up 1.07 euro at 88.79 euros a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting By Susanna Twidale; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)