POWER: Nordic Hydro Stocks Rise, Narrow Deficit to Average

Nordic hydropower reserves last week - calendar week 38 - increased by 1.9 percentage points to 69.14% of capacity, narrowing the deficit to last year's level and the ten-year average, Entso-E data showed. * Increased storage build in Norway was due to good inflow in NO2, NO5 and NO3, while hydropower generation was broadly unchanged on the week, NVE said. * The deficit to last year's level slightly narrowed to 11.1 points, from 11.2 points the week before. * Reserves also narrowed the deficit to the ten-year average to 8 points, from 9.1 points the previous week. * In the Nordics, precipitation last week stood at 13.1mm, below the seasonal average of 18.5mm. * Nordic nuclear availability is at around 50% of capacity as of Wednesday morning, unchanged from Tuesday. 6 of the 11 units are online. * Looking ahead, precipitation in the Nordics is forecast at 11.3mm this week, below the seasonal average of 18.5mm. * The latest two-week ECMWF weather forecast for the Nordics suggests mean temperatures will remain above normal through the 18-day forecast period. * Norway's hydro balance is forecast to end this week at -11.3TWh. The balance is forecast to improve slightly to -10.65TWh as o