(Bloomberg) -- German year-ahead power trading close to a four-month low as the region’s struggling economy threatens to further crimp energy demand.
Prices have fallen more than 10% this month. Power demand remains relatively low in Europe, with BloombergNEF estimating that consumption across Germany, France and Great Britain this month will be toward the bottom end of a five-year range.
The driving factors include energy-efficiency improvements and a sluggish recovery in industrial activity, BNEF said in research published Thursday. Temperatures, which can driver electricity demand will remain above average from the end of September until mid-October according to Weather Services International.
After exceeding €100 in August when geopolitical events drove up natural gas rates, the next-year contract fell to a low of €86.39 per megawatt-hour Thursday which would be the lowest close since April. The French equivalent traded at €72.35.
(Updates prices and adds detail about weather outlook)
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