The benchmark German electricity contract for 2018 delivery rose on Monday, reaching a new two-year high on a rally in coal prices, while carbon emission gains provided support.
* The European benchmark German Cal'18 baseload power contract , hit a high of 31.98 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh) early on Monday before retreating to 31.88 euros/MWh, up 0.57 percent.
* The equivalent French year-ahead contract, which is not highly liquid, gained 0.67 cents to 37.75 euros/MWh.
* Coal cif North Europe was untraded with a bid/ask price of $72.25 / $72.50 per tonne, a level last seen in November 2016.
* Coal prices have rallied in the past weeks, sparked by Chinese buying and low output in Australia.
* Coal-fired electricity generation accounts for more than 40 percent of German power output.
* The Dec '17 expiry carbon pollution rights, which electricity generators must hold to offset their emissions, added 3.18 percent to 5.31 euros a tonne.
* In the day-ahead spot delivery market, prices were mixed as increased demand supported German prices, while improving nuclear power generation pressured the French contract.
* The German baseload contract for Tuesday delivery gained 15 cents to 38.50 euros/MWh compared with the price paid on Friday for Monday delivery.
* Gains in the German spot were capped by a forecast rise in wind and solar generation on Tuesday.
* The equivalent French contract for Tuesday fell 75 cents to 39.25 euros/MWh compared with the settled price on Friday for Monday delivery.
* German electricity demand for Tuesday is expected rise by 1.1 gigawatts to 69.3 GW, according to Thomson Reuters data.
* In France, consumption will rise by early 1 GW on Tuesday to 48.6 GW.
* On the supply side, French nuclear power availability rose to over 69 percent of capacity from 67.59 percent on Friday following the restart of EDF's 900 MW Chinon 2 nuclear reactor.
* Electricity production from German wind turbines is forecast to rise by nearly 4 GW on Tuesday to 7 GW, Reuters data showed. Solar output will increase by 530 megawatts to 5.7 GW.
* In Eastern Europe, the Czech Tuesday delivery contract surged 50 percent to 52.50 euros/MWh. The Czech year-ahead contract was untraded at the settled price of 32.45 euros/MWh ($1 = 0.8759 euros) (Reporting by Bate Felix; editing by Susan Thomas)