NORDIC POWER-Spot edges up on lower wind output

* Nordic spot price for Tuesday set at 31.76 euros/MWh

* Precipitation levels coming to normal

OSLO, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Nordic spot power electricity prices inched up on Monday due to lower wind power output and the higher price of hydro-power production as precipitation was around normal.

The Nordic average day-ahead power price

for

Tuesday's delivery settled 31.76 euros a megawatt-hour (MWh) from 31.02 euros on Monday.

The day-ahead contract was quoted on the financial market in a bid-ask range of 31.5 euros and 32.5 euros a MWh by 1000 GMT.

Analysts at Point Carbon said the spot price rose on lower wind output which was seen falling by hourly average of 680 MW to 1,540 MW on Tuesday.

"The rise also came due to hydro-power producers lifting their prices," a Point Carbon analyst added.

Nordic nuclear power plants ramped up production during the weekend, and Sweden's 865 megawatt Ringhals-1 reactor came back on Monday, but that was already priced in, analysts said.

FORWARD PRICES

Further out on the curve, the benchmark front-quarter contract traded slightly up on a drier weather forecast, but the turnover was low.

The contract for baseload (24 hours) power delivery in the first quarter

firmed by 31 cents to 41.25 euros a MWh by 1000 GMT from Friday's close.

"The market is a little bit higher on weather forecast, but it's pretty dull," a Sweden-based trader said.

"We have had some problems getting the market open today, and the turnover is really bad, just 157 MW for the first quarter contract," he added.

The latest 15-day weather forecast showed total precipitation levels for the period nearing the normal levels, but still at 1.6 terawatt-hours above normal.

"We need a really long-term high pressure to move up the market strongly. I expect prices to be more or less stable," one trader said.

The Nordic region relies on hydroelectric power for more than 50 percent of its power generation. Less rain reduces hydro power capacity, pushing up prices.

At the far end of the curve, the Nordic contract for baseload power delivery next year

was up by 10 cents to 37.45 euros a MWh, but traded volumes were also low at 16 MW.

Both European carbon prices

and coal API2 2013 futures were trading down on Monday morning, a bearish factor for power prices.

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by William Hardy)

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Keywords: MARKETS NORDIC/ELECTRICITY