UK GAS-Prices fall as strong wind output curbs demand from gas plants

Jan 15 (Reuters) - British wholesale gas prices fell on Monday as strong wind power output curbed demand from gas plants, leaving the system oversupplied, traders said. * Within-day gas fell by 2.15 pence to 51.20 pence per therm at 0940 GMT. * Day-ahead gas was 1.25 pence lower at 51.75 pence per therm. * Temperatures are around the seasonal norm and higher wind output is driving prices lower, said a British gas trader. * Average temperatures on Monday could reach 10 degrees Celsius in southern Britain but are forecast to fall to 5 degrees C on Tuesday, data from Britain's Met Office showed. * Peak wind power generation is forecast at 9.4 gigawatts (GW) on Monday and is expected to rise to 9.8 GW on Tuesday, Elexon data showed. * Higher wind output typically results in lower demand from gas-to-power plants. * Thomson Reuters (Dusseldorf: TOC.DU - news) meteorologist Georg Muller said there could be a quite mild end to this month and major cold spells are not expected before early February. * Britain's gas system was oversupplied by 29.4 million cubic metres (mcm), with demand forecast at 304.0 mcm and supply at 333.4 mcm/day, National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) data showed. * Gas supply from Norway to Britain on Monday was flowing at 137 mcm/day, close to the pipeline system's maximum capacity. * The February contract was down 2.05 pence at 54.00 pence/therm. * In the Dutch gas market, the day-ahead gas price at the TTF hub fell by 0.45 euro to 19.15 euros per megawatt hour (MWh). * The benchmark Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) -17 EU carbon contract inched down by 0.08 euro to 7.78 euros a tonne. * Thomson Reuters analyst view: http://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?pageid=united-kingdom-gas (Reporting by Lefteris Karagiannopoulos in Oslo; editing by Nina Chestney)