Traders also cited export demand from main producer Germany, a return to seasonally typical price levels after the weather-driven oversupply of recent days ebbed, and a looming cold weather front next week for the price jump.

Friday delivery baseload in Germany was up 25.5 percent at 30.8 euros ($37.03) a megawatt hour and the equivalent French contract was up 21 percent at 34.5 euros.

Thomson Reuters data showed that daily wind power output in Germany will likely fall to 20.2 gigawatts on Friday from 26.7 GW on Thursday and by Monday will have fallen to 14.7 GW.

(Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Susan Fenton)