CEE POWER-Slovak day ahead soars as prices split from Czech

* Czech Cal '13 rises to 48.80 euros per megawatt hour
* Poland utilities to have 4 GW offline on Wednesday
* Day ahead rises in Poland and Slovakia

PRAGUE, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Czech and Slovak day-ahead power
prices split on Monday with the Slovakian contract soaring above
its Czech counterpart due to cross-border capacity cuts that
limited flows and increased demand from countries further south,
traders said.
Czech electricity for Tuesday delivery rose nearly 9 percent
to 48.48 euros ($59.70) per megawatt hour (MWh) in market
operator OTE's daily auction where Slovak day ahead shot up to
96.92 euros with peakload trading at 116 euros.
The normally combined power markets have diverged a number
of times over the past two weeks due to work on the transmission
lines that have led to reduced power flows into Slovakia from
the Czech Republic.
"The work on the lines is probably part of why the price
went so high," one trader said. "They might be short power."
In the over-the-counter market, Czech day-ahead rose to
47.30 euros as data from Thomson Reuters Point Carbon showed
forecasts for wind generation in Germany dipping 1 gigawatt (GW)
to 1.7 GW with consumption pegged higher.
Prices also gained along the curve with September delivery
shooting up 3 percent to 47.20 euros and Cal '13 baseload rising
almost 2 percent to 48.80 euros on higher oil and worries that a
nuclear power station in Belgium might be down longer than
expected.
"It could be bad for the market if they come online after
schools start," the trader said. "It looks like a lot of traders
realized this could happen over the weekend."
Around the region, the benchmark German Cal '13 contract
gained 66 cents to 50.51 euros in afternoon trade on Germany's
EEX exchange.
Slovenia on Friday said it has dropped plans to buy carbon
credits to meet its 2008-2012 Kyoto Protocol emissions target
because its greenhouse gas output had fallen more than expected.

Data from Poland's grid operator showed utilities would have
a total of 4.0 gigawatts of power offline for maintenance on
Wednesday.
Day-ahead on Poland's POLPX exchange rose to 176.21 zlotys
($53.16) from 165.82 zlotys while electricity for Tuesday
climbed to 72.08 euros from 50.38 euros on Hungary's HUPX.
Oil hit $115 a barrel for the first time in more than three
months as concern about supplies and hopes that governments will
roll out more stimulus measures trumped signs of weakening fuel
demand.
 EUAs for December delivery, the benchmark EU carbon
contract, had risen nearly 2 percent to 7.33 euros a tonne at
1212 GMT.
($1 = 0.8121 euros)
($1 = 3.3147 Polish zlotys)

(Reporting by Michael Kahn; Editing by Nina Chestney)