LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - British wholesale gas prices rose
on Thursday due to weak wind output, despite expectations of
easing cooling demand.
* The day-ahead contract was up 0.85 pence at
19.00
p/therm by 0918 GMT.
* The within-day contract was up 0.85 pence at
19.30
p/therm.
* Gas-for-power demand edged down to 55 million cubic metres
(mcm)
on Thursday from 58 mcm on Wednesday, and is predicted to edge
down to 52 mcm Friday, Refinitiv data showed.
* But wind production was expected to be low, meaning that a
drop
in gas-for-power demand amid declining temperatures and easing
cooling demand is unlikely to be sharp.
* Peak wind generation was forecast at 3 gigawatts (GW) on
Thursday, falling to 2.5 GW on Friday, out of 18 GW capacity,
Elexon data showed.
* On Thursday, combined cycle gas turbines were meeting
55.85% of
British power demand, while wind was meeting 8.38%.
* UK gas system was almost balanced, with demand forecast at
151.7
million cubic metres (mcm) and supply at 152.6 mcm, National
Grid data showed.
* The September contract was up 0.70 p at 20.80
p/therm.
* In continental Europe, expectations of higher power demand
next
week might be supporting gas prices, a trader said.
* The day-ahead gas price at the Dutch TTF hub
was up
0.30 euro at 6.65 euros per megawatt hour.
* The benchmark Dec-20 EU carbon contract was up
0.15 at
euro at 26.12 euros per tonne.
(Reporting By Ekaterina Kravtsova; editing by Nina Chestney)