mjunction services limited aids WBSEDCL in its online purchase of power, the first ever in the country by a Power Utility Company
For the first time ever in the country, purchase of power was finalized online, on December 18, 2015, on an electronic platform built by mjunction services limited.mjunction services limited was engaged by West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL), a Govt. of West Bengal Enterprise to provide an online platform for WBSEDCL to purchase 500 MW of power per month, beginning January 2016. During the e-reverse auction stage conducted on December 18, 2015, 548 bids were received from the seven selected bidders a result of intense competition created during the event by the auction methodology designed by mjunction, leading to 12.56% savings over the L1 of the sealed bid stage, for WBSEDCL.
Mr Viresh Oberoi, CEO & MD, mjunction services limited said, that he is happy that mjunction in keeping with its corporate mission has been able to pioneer online purchase of power also. “We seek all such opportunities to bring transparency and efficiency and are thankful to WBSEDCL for providing us this opportunity. We have built a comprehensive online platform, leveraging the best technology, which is available to power producers, traders and utility companies to finalize the purchase of power efficiently and have great plans to make the platform world class. The total volume of traded power in India is pegged approximately at 35 Billion Units per annum. Thus we see a good scope for all private or state utility companies using our solution.” (1 Unit = 1 Kilo watt hour)
The e-auction software platform enables real-time, simultaneous, anonymous and continuous negotiation between qualified suppliers – where suppliers compete among themselves to offer the best possible price for the highest possible quantity under the existing conditions in order to bag the order. There is no role played by the agent of the buyer – or by any other person – during this actual negotiation process, thus guaranteeing absolute transparency.
The buyer had a peak load supply shortfall which it needed to bridge in advance through contracted short term supply of power. The present tender was for 500 MW for each of the months. They wanted the same to be done quickly and at most competitive rates. WBSEDCL bought 1.9 billion units of power in FY14. Successful completion of the project means that all power utility companies can use this solution for their procurement needs. Total volume of traded power in India is around 35 billion units (1 Unit = 1 Kilo watt hour) per annum.
Mr. Oberoi further added, “While Transparency, efficiency & competitive prices were the key objectives of WBSEDCL, we realized that for the process to be successful, the platform should be user friendly to power traders and generators, and should employ the right auction methodology. Accordingly, we designed the platform to support all stages of power procurement starting from request for proposal stage, technical evaluation, e-reverse auction and the final allocation of power”. A mock auction session, was arranged to ensure that the interested traders and generators were fully comfortable with the platform, he added.
Mr Narayan Swaroop Nigam, CMD of WBSEDCL, mentioned that they have saved nearly Rs 88 crores over the L1 of sealed bid, through the online process. “By this process the benefit of saved cost of power will be passed on to the consumer in the form of reduced tariff,” he added.Of seven participants, which participated in e-reverse auction, 3 were successful and got allocation to supply power – Tata Power, PTC India and Adani Enterprises. Mr Kundan Kumar, from Tata Power Trading Company, expressed satisfaction on the way the online event was conducted. “We found the platform to be user friendly, and mjunction responsive to our suggestions”, he added.
