Sparkers dictate the movement of the markets, but it is never as simple as it is cracked up to be.
It has been mentioned that the power trader now no longer exists. The heady days of power markets setting the price and driving gas and coal prices has long since gone. The new power trader is now a spark trader, carefully monitoring the power prices and the movements of both gas and power.
We saw at the end of last week that for December the spark spread had moved from £8.50 to £12. This was mainly caused by more bearish news on gas prices with warm weather and fundamental supply looking good, and the bullish power prices, with the news that British Energy may well close down some plant.
However, it does not take long to see that the rise in power prices was on a small issue whereas the gas move was fundmental. Any gas generator would be happy to lock in a spark spread of £12 and so they started selling power and buying gas the spark spread returned to normality around £9-£10.
The danger with this type of trading is assuming that competition is not going to hurt too much and that prices will stay at between £9-£10. In reality if you are an IPP gas generator you would sacrifce £2-£4 off the saprk spread just to get onto the bars.
17 June 2005
"'Curiouser and curiouser,' cried Alice!" Alice and Wonderland read more...
19 May 2005
Muck spreaders inflate the Winter 05 market. read more...
18 May 2005
The picnic is still going on and the bears remain in the woods. read more...
07 March 2005
Mild weather forces drops which are tempered by a very bullish emissions price. read more...
The Rally Continues in Electricity
Where June ended on a bearish note, July opened with a distinctly more bullish feel to it. By the 8th July, the Winter contracts had each gained around £1/MWh with Winter 11 trading at £57.70/MWh, Winter 12 at £59.60/MWh and Winter 13 at £63.45/MWh. read more...
08 July 2011
Where June ended on a bearish note, July opened with a distinctly more bullish feel to it. By the 8th July, the Winter contracts had each gained around £1/MWh with Winter 11 trading at £57.70/MWh, Winter 12 at £59.60/MWh and Winter 13 at £63.45/MWh. read more...
Energy Curves regain some of the Losses
The energy markets have recovered from the 'plunging losses' seen earlier in June which dragged down fuel and power prices. Prices across the power curve all report strong week on week gains. read more...
01 July 2011
The energy markets have recovered from the 'plunging losses' seen earlier in June which dragged down fuel and power prices. Prices across the power curve all report strong week on week gains. read more...
Prompt Prices at a Premium to Winter..
The focus this week has been on the prompt markets with system constraints and gas uncertainty the main cause. Together the constraints and uncertainty have had an interesting impact on the shape of the power forward curve. read more...
01 October 2010
The focus this week has been on the prompt markets with system constraints and gas uncertainty the main cause. Together the constraints and uncertainty have had an interesting impact on the shape of the power forward curve. read more...
Gains Seen Across the Curve
There was no sign of an early Christmas in the power market on Friday with a 'flurry' of trading resulting in gains across the power curve. read more...
21 December 2009
There was no sign of an early Christmas in the power market on Friday with a 'flurry' of trading resulting in gains across the power curve. read more...
New trading levels anticipated in UK Power Markets
The electricity market saw two main technical levels breached for the first time in the Summer 10 and Winter 10 contracts. read more...
28 August 2009
The electricity market saw two main technical levels breached for the first time in the Summer 10 and Winter 10 contracts. read more...
Shale Gas - Latest UK estimates suggest enough for next 11 years
Cuadrilla Resources, the company at the forefront of Britain's Shale gas exploration released its first estimates of the amount of shale gas contained in the rocks of Lancashire. At 200 trillion cubic feet, the estimates are significant to say the least. read more...
22 September 2011
Cuadrilla Resources, the company at the forefront of Britain's Shale gas exploration released its first estimates of the amount of shale gas contained in the rocks of Lancashire. At 200 trillion cubic feet, the estimates are significant to say the least. read more...
Energy Forward Prices continue to gain ground
Despite market participants describing the market as stagnant and directionless, energy forward prices continue to gain ground. Winter 11 power closed the week up at £59.65/MWh while NBP Winter 11 gas finished at 72.20p/therm. read more...
10 June 2011
Despite market participants describing the market as stagnant and directionless, energy forward prices continue to gain ground. Winter 11 power closed the week up at £59.65/MWh while NBP Winter 11 gas finished at 72.20p/therm. read more...
Downward Trend Still in Play
Most contracts in the UK energy markets continued to lose ground this week enforcing the downward trend that has been in play since the start of the month. The Winter 11 contracts closed the week at £57.60MW/h and 68.85p/therm. read more...
13 May 2011
Most contracts in the UK energy markets continued to lose ground this week enforcing the downward trend that has been in play since the start of the month. The Winter 11 contracts closed the week at £57.60MW/h and 68.85p/therm. read more...
Winter 11 - A Slippery Slope
While March was a month of shocks and gains, April seems to have marked the start of a downward trend in the UK power market. The WInter 11 contract is just one example. read more...
06 May 2011
While March was a month of shocks and gains, April seems to have marked the start of a downward trend in the UK power market. The WInter 11 contract is just one example. read more...
The Market in April 2011
In comparison to the activity seen in March – the energy markets seemed relatively sedate shedding some of the value along the way. read more...
28 April 2011
In comparison to the activity seen in March – the energy markets seemed relatively sedate shedding some of the value along the way. read more...
Winter 11 - A Slippery Slope
While March was a month of shocks and gains, April seems to have marked the start of a downward trend in the UK power market. The WInter 11 contract is just one example. read more...
06 May 2011
While March was a month of shocks and gains, April seems to have marked the start of a downward trend in the UK power market. The WInter 11 contract is just one example. read more...
Where's the certainty?
There was a time when you could quite comfortably forecast the running order of generation plant in the UK - but 2009 has seen a dramatic turn in the stack! read more...
23 December 2009
There was a time when you could quite comfortably forecast the running order of generation plant in the UK - but 2009 has seen a dramatic turn in the stack! read more...
Dong buy Severn Power
The Danish energy utility, Dong have bought one part of Carron Energy. read more...
10 March 2009
The Danish energy utility, Dong have bought one part of Carron Energy. read more...
Green Light for additional 3.92GW of Capacity
The development of 3.92GW of power plant capacity was given the green light yesterday by the Department for Energy & Climate Change. read more...
06 February 2009
The development of 3.92GW of power plant capacity was given the green light yesterday by the Department for Energy & Climate Change. read more...
A sliding Prompt
A comfortable system in terms of supply margins left the prompt power market sliding. read more...
14 November 2008
A comfortable system in terms of supply margins left the prompt power market sliding. read more...
February Monthly Round Up
February was dominated by news of unrest spreading throughout the Middle East and this had a direct impact on all aspects of the UK energy market with gains seen in the UK Power and NBP Gas curves. read more...
25 February 2011
February was dominated by news of unrest spreading throughout the Middle East and this had a direct impact on all aspects of the UK energy market with gains seen in the UK Power and NBP Gas curves. read more...
Where has the market got left to go?
Clean spark spread prices in Winter’s 11 and 12 are trading below £5.00MWh (closing at £4.87 and £4.59 respectively). The equivalent Summer’s are not that much stronger asking some to ask is there anymore downside left at these levels. read more...
03 September 2010
Clean spark spread prices in Winter’s 11 and 12 are trading below £5.00MWh (closing at £4.87 and £4.59 respectively). The equivalent Summer’s are not that much stronger asking some to ask is there anymore downside left at these levels. read more...
Where's the certainty?
There was a time when you could quite comfortably forecast the running order of generation plant in the UK - but 2009 has seen a dramatic turn in the stack! read more...
23 December 2009
There was a time when you could quite comfortably forecast the running order of generation plant in the UK - but 2009 has seen a dramatic turn in the stack! read more...
Drax up against it
Drax profit margins fall as competition will only get harder. read more...
05 March 2008
Drax profit margins fall as competition will only get harder. read more...
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