It seems that the market forgot the basics today reacting to an expensive half-hourly cash-out price of £142 and talking up the prompt market amidst talks of capacity shortfalls, system inadequacies and so on. The reality was that the market worked as expected with a unit called to run for a short intense period to cover a margin drop from 11GW to 7GW. The unit was suitably rewarded for its flexibility in providing short run up and down times. Come middle of winter, much of the additional 11GW will expect to run for longer periods and prices will be lower. As the market reminded itself of these basic principles, prices started to settle quickly.