IEX power market update for April 2021

The power market trades 7,707 MU in April 2021 achieving 90.2 percent YoY growth and green market picks up momentum with 186 MU volume in April 2021 seeing 262 percent MoM growth.

The electricity market at Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) entered the new fiscal year 2022 with 7,707 MU volume in the month of April 2021, achieving a 90.2 percent YoY growth.

According to the power demand data published by the National Load Dispatch Center, the national peak power demand at 183 GW while the peak demand and power consumption registered close to 40 percent YoY growth on a weak base.

While the growing electricity consumption has been one of the key factors behind the consistent performance of the Exchange market, its robust value proposition in terms of the most competitive prices, flexible, and efficient procurement positions Exchange as the most preferred destination for power procurement for both the distribution utilities as well as the industrial consumers. 

Day-ahead, term-ahead and real-time electricity market

The day-ahead market traded 5,699 MU volume in April 2021 achieving a significant 54 percent YoY growth. The average monthly price at Rs 3.70 per unit witnessed 53 percent increase over Rs 2.42 in the corresponding period in 2020. The increase in price was primarily due to increase in demand and sharp slump in electricity prices in April 2020 due to a stringent nationwide lockdown. The day-ahead market saw ample availability of power with sell-bids at 1.48X of the cleared volume during the month.

The term-ahead market comprising intra-day, contingency, daily and weekly contracts traded 349 MU during the month.

The real-time market saw the highest ever monthly volume of 1,473 MU in April 2021 achieving 4.2 percent MoM growth.  It also recorded the highest single day volume of 68.36 MU on 3^rd April 2021. With sell-side bids at 1.8X of cleared volume, the market continued to have ample availability of power.

The growing volume in the real-time electricity market shows its acceptance by distribution utilities and industrial consumers as the go-to platform for addressing the real-time electricity demand-supply balance in the most competitive and efficient manner with the delivery of power at just one-hour notice.

Green market

The green term-ahead market traded 186 MU volume during April 2021 comprising 78 MU in the solar segment and 108 MU in the non-solar segment, achieving a significant 262 percent MoM growth. 

A total of 34 participants participated during the month with distribution utilities from Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana among others as the key participants. The market has been enabling distribution utilities, industrial consumers, and green generators to trade in renewable energy in the most competitive and viable way.

Cross border electricity trade

During the month, IEX commenced the Cross Border Electricity Trade (CBET) on its platform marking a significant milestone in its endeavour to build an integrated South Asian regional power market. As a first-of-its kind initiative, the new market segment allows the Exchange market to expand its reach beyond India to the South Asia region, thus supporting the growth of energy ecosystem in the region in an efficient and sustainable manner.

Nepal was the first country to trade in the day-ahead market on the Exchange on 17 April 2021. The other South Asian countries like Bhutan and Bangladesh are expected to join the platform soon, and the market is likely to grow at a fast pace in the coming months.

Renewable energy certificates

The REC trading session which was scheduled on 29 April 2021 did not take place due to the stay order from APTEL in response to the petitions filed by a few renewable energy associations.