NORDIC POWER — Forward prices set for weekly gain on low water reserves

Oct 16 (Reuters) — Nordic power prices rose on Friday and were headed for weekly gains, supported by below-normal water reserves and firmer European energy markets. Nordic front-quarter baseload power contract was up €1 ($1.12), or 0.85%, at €118.50 per megawatt hour (MWh) at 0934 GMT. The contract was up 7.8% so far for the week Nordic front-year gained €0.27, or 0.38%, to €71.85/MWh, up 6.7% so far this week. "The hydro balance deficit is, despite the increasing inflows, expected at -12 TWh in two weeks as it will take a longer period of above-average precipitation to narrow the deficit ahead of winter," an analyst at Mind Energy said in a note. Nordic water reserves available 15 days ahead were 9.81 terawatt hours (TWh) below normal on Friday, compared with 12.19 TWh below normal on Thursday. "The weekend and the first half of the next week will be drier and sunnier, but the second half of the week will likely be more active, wetter and windier, especially in the south and west," said LSEG meteorologist Georg Mueller. Aiding the market further, benchmark Dutch and British wholesale gas prices edged up slightly on Friday morning as lower temperatures and renewables output are exp