CEE POWER-Czech short- and long-term power prices gain

                                
 * CEZ Dukovany nuclear unit readies for shutdown
                                
 * Day ahead rises in Czech, Hungary and Poland
                                
 
                                
 PRAGUE, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Czech power prices gained on
Thursday as low wind generation, cold weather and plant outages
boosted short-term prices and rising fuel prices drove contracts
higher along the curve, traders said.
                                
Electricity for Friday delivery gained 10 cents to 55.60
euros per megawatt hour in over-the-counter trade and rose to
55.70 euros on the Prague-based Power Exchange Central Europe.
                                
 "Basically, there is no wind," one trader said. "Coal,
emissions and oil were all up as well."
                                
 Further along the curve, the front month rose nearly 1
percent to 47.60 euros and Cal '12 baseload gained more than 1
percent to 50.15 euros.
                                
 Around the region, the benchmark German Cal '12 baseload
contract rose 58 cents to 52.22 euros on Germany's EEX.
                                
 Czech utility CEZ <CEZPsp.PR> announced it would begin the
planned 33-day shutdown for refuelling of unit 3 at its Dukovany
nuclear power plant on Sunday.[ID:nPRG004725]
                                
 In Slovakia, the environment ministry said it expects the
country to fetch 4 to 6.5 euros per tonne in its planned public
auction of 27 million tonnes of Kyoto carbon credits by April.
[ID:nLDE71G0UZ]
                                
 On Poland's POLPX exchange, day-ahead baseload rose to
189.63 zlotys from 186.70 zlotys, while Hungary's HUPX cleared
5,953.40 megawatt-hours for Friday at 56.64 euros, up from 55.71
euros.
                                
 North Sea Brent crude oil steadied around $104 per barrel on
Thursday, near a two-and-a-half-year high, as unrest in the
Middle East and Israel-Iran tension stoked fears of a disruption
of oil flows. [O/R]
                                
 EUAs for December delivery <CFI2Zc1>, the bellwether carbon
contract, were up nearly 1 percent to 14.89 euros a tonne at
1543 GMT.
                                
(Reporting by Michael Kahn; editing by Keiron Henderson)