Concerns over winter gas storage levels pushes prices up for a fifth consecutive day
A fifth consecutive day of gains at the NBP on Thursday that was much more significant than the day before.
Winter 26 managed to break above another psychological threshold, closing at 162.6p/therm (5.54p/kWh).
The front-season is now holding at the highest levels since 2023 amidst an uncertain outlook heading into the last few weeks of summer.
From a storage perspective, EU underground facilities were 61.82% full as of Wednesday, this was 12.7% below the same date last year.
Several, record-breaking heatwaves over the past couple of months have redirected gas flows toward CCGT power plants due to heightened cooling demand in the continent and the stagnant, calm conditions brought about by high pressure ‘heat domes’ which have curbed British wind output, prompting higher demand here also.
Baseload power prices continued their upward trajectory in yesterday’s session.
We saw a 51% increase in wind generation when compared to the previous session, but changeable weather and renewable fundamentals across this week have likely been increasing balancing costs over the past few days.
With that said, the primary driver was supply concerns on the gas market relating to ongoing geopolitical instability, alongside intermittent, extreme temperatures and the resulting storage deficit.
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Price commentary courtesy of Crown Gas and Power 