Prompt British wholesale gas prices fell on Wednesday morning as strong output from the country’s wind farms curbed demand for gas from power stations while Dutch prices edged higher amid weaker supply.

British gas for immediate delivery fell by 11 pence to 105 pence per therm by 0822 GMT, while the day-ahead price was 13 pence lower at 106 p/therm.

Forecasts of high output from the country’s wind farms led to expectations of lower demand for gas from power plants.

Refinitiv analysts forecast gas-for-power demand at 41 million cubic metres (mcm) a day on Wednesday, down 22 mcm on the previous forecast.

Peak wind power generation is forecast at 16.4 gigawatts up from around 7 GW the previous day, Elexon data showed.

“The outlook for the remainder of this week remains bearish with soft demand forecast and the recovery of Norwegian flows toward the end of the week as the ongoing maintenances are scheduled to end,” analysts at Refinitiv said in a daily research note.

On the Dutch TTF hub, prices edged higher with flows from Russia through some major routes slightly lower on Wednesday morning and Norwegian supply still impacted by maintenance.

Delivery of Russian gas to Slovakia through Ukraine eased on Wednesday morning, while flows from Germany to Poland via the Yamal pipeline were also lower.

The day-ahead contract rose 2 euros to 81.50 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), and the benchmark June contract was up by 0.90 euros/MWh at 86.40 euros/MWh.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 was up 0.19 euros at 81.51 euros a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Susanna Twidale Editing by Peter Graff)