The growth in volume of electricity traded on Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) in November 2020 exceeded the comparable growth in national energy consumption.
In November 2020, IEX saw electricity volumes of 6164 million kwh (million units of MU) of traded in November 2020. This was 61 per cent higher than the comparable trading volumes of November 2019.
Quoting statistics released by National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC) in a release, IEX said that national energy consumption in November 2020 was 3.15 per cent higher than that in November 2019. Similarly, the peak national demand in November 2020 was 3.2 per cent higher year-on-year, in November 2020.
The significant growth in the electricity trade volume at IEX despite a moderate increase in consumption and peak demand is a clear reflection that the distribution utilities as well as the open access consumers have a greater preference for competitive and efficient power procurement through the exchange market, IEX said.
Day-ahead Market (DAM)
The day-ahead market volume at 4860 MU also recorded 43 per cent year-on-year growth in November 2020. The market continued to see high sell-side liquidity with total sell bids at 9778 MU being twice that of the cleared volume. This enabled the market to maintain attractive average market clearing price at Rs.2.73 per unit during the month seeing a 4 per cent YoY decline over the price of Rs.2.85 during the same period last year.
One Nation One Price
The situation of “One Nation One Price” prevailed during all 30 days of the month making IEX the most reliable platform for power procurement, IEX said.
Real time Market
The real-time electricity market (RTM) saw all time high volume of 894 MU in November 2020, marking a 10 per cent growth over October 2020. On November 29, 2020, the RTM segment saw trading of 40.6 MU, making it the busiest trading day since the launch of the segment on June 1, 2020.
RTM also continued to witness increased participation; a total of 318 participants traded in the market in November with the highest number of participants trading on a single day at 168 on November 19, 2020.
The market has been quite successful in drawing excellent participation from the distribution utilities, open access consumers and generators. The market enables DISCOMs and open access consumers address their demand- supply variations in the most dynamic and efficient manner through ensuring delivery at just 1-hour notice.
Suspension continues
The REC trading session which was scheduled on November 25, 2020 could not take place due to the stay order from APTEL in response to the petitions filed by a few renewable energy associations against the CERC order of June 2020, regarding revision in the floor and forbearance prices of REC.
(Featured photograph for illustration only)