Consumers get 42 per cent cheaper power on average at real-time market on first day of trade at IEX

The average price discovered on day one was Rs 1.55 per unit, the auctions saw the price go as low as Rs 0.10 per unit on the platform, IEX said in a statement

New Delhi: The average power tariff in the real-time market trade at India Energy Exchange (IEX) on the first day of operation on Monday stood at Rs 1.55 per unit, 42 per cent cheaper than the day ahead market, official data showed. Real-time market (RTM) enables consumers, including distribution companies (discoms) and captive users, to buy power on exchanges just an hour before delivery.

The average price discovered on day one was Rs 1.55 per unit, the auctions saw the price go as low as Rs 0.10 per unit on the platform, IEX said in a statement.

According to the IEX data, the average price of power in the day ahead market (DAM) trade on May 31 for delivery on June 1, was Rs 2.68 per unit. Similarly the average tariff of power at DAM trade on June 1 for delivery on June 2 was Rs 2.2 per unit.

The new market segment was operationalised at the IEX platform at 10:45 PM on May 31, 2020 for delivery at 12:00 AM on June 01 (Sunday midnight), 2020.

The real-time market traded 3.41 MU (million units volume in 48 auction sessions on day one of the launch.

However, the trade volume in DAM was 163 MU for delivery on June 1 and 119 MU for delivery on June 2.

The platform witnessed a significant sell side liquidity at about 10 times of the total buy volume leading to very attractive prices for the buyers, the IEX statement said.

IEX said, “this (availability of power and low price) reinforces IEX’s belief that real-time trading of electricity would significantly help utilities and open access consumers manage power demand-supply variation and meet 24×7 power supply aspirations in the most flexible, efficient, and dynamic way.

The real-time market will support the utilities in reducing dependence on grid deviation framework, reducing penalties and enable a safe and secure grid, it noted.

The real-time market will make the power market more dynamic by enabling trade in electricity through 48 half-hourly closed double-sided auctions during the day, with delivery of power within one hour of closure of the bid session, it added.

Earlier, consumers including discoms and captive users, were able to buy power a day prior in the DAM on the power exchanges where trading is done for two hours daily from 10 am to 12 noon.

The main purpose of introducing a real-time power market is to deal with renewables interference and better portfolio management by power generation companies (gencos), discoms and other consumers.

With more and more renewable energy capacity being added to power grids, there would be need for sudden ramp-up and downsizing of supply.

Consumers can plan their energy supplies in a better way and gencos would be able to increase or decrease their output accordingly using the RTM facility.

The RTM will optimise generation resources and facilitate generators and discoms to sell surplus power efficiently with next day payment cycle.

Apart from IEX, Power Exchange of India Ltd (PXIL) also launched RTM on its platform from June 1.

Source: PTI