PARIS - European prompt power prices diverged on Tuesday, with the German spot contract carrying a premium over the French equivalent as renewable supply in Germany is expected to plummet by more than half as the country returns from the Easter Monday holiday.

German baseload power traded at 81 euros ($86.96) per megawatt-hour (MWh) by 0921 GMT, while French day-ahead power was at 19 euros/MWh.

German wind power output was expected to tumble by 19 gigawatts (GW) on Wednesday, to 16.3 GW, while French supply was expected to fall by 870 megawatts (MW) to 11.3 GW, LSEG data showed.

Solar power supply in Germany was seen falling 4.7 GW to 4.6 GW, according to the data.

"(Wednesday's) outlook is decisively bullish, with very low renewable supplies, in stark comparison with the recent days," LSEG analyst Riccardo Parviero said, adding that Germany is forecast to turn into a net importer.

LSEG analysis showed that German wind power output is expected to rebound to nearly 30 GW on Thursday and Friday.

French nuclear availability was up four percentage points to 71% of available capacity.

Power consumption in Germany is forecast to tick up 1 GW to 54.3 GW on Wednesday, while demand in France is expected to fall by 2.1 GW to 50.2 GW, LSEG data showed.

German year-ahead power fell 2.9% to 79.50 euros/MWh, while the French 2025 baseload contract dropped 3.6% at 74.75 euros/MWh.

European CO2 allowances for December 2024 were down 4.1%, at 59.23 euros a metric ton. ($1 = 0.9314 euros)

(Reporting by Forrest Crellin; Editing by Sonia Cheema)