Short-term transactions in electricity during January'10-Details

9.31% of generated electricity traded in short-term

Out of the total electricity generation of 64,849.30 million units (MU), excluding generation from renewable sources and captive power plants, in the country, a total of 6,034.46 MUs, or 9.31%, were transacted in the short-term, during the month of January 2010. Such transactions consist of 2,870.95 MUs (4.43% of the total electricity generation) through bilateral mechanisms, that is through licensee traders, power exchanges and directly between the distribution companies, 2,307.50 MUs (3.56%) through unscheduled interchange (UI) and 856.06 MUs (1.32%) through the two power exchanges, namely Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL).

4141 MU transacted through UI

During January 2010, a total of 4,141.17 million units (MU) of electricity were transacted by the states and other regional entities in the country through unscheduled interchange (UI), a figure visibly lower than the previous month`s 4,376.3 MU. The highest amount of UI exports were witnessed from the state of Gujarat-- 277.02 MU-- which makes up 12.17% of the total, followed by the public sector power generating firm, Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) at 240.71 MU, or 10.58% of the total transactions. Next in line are the Chhattisgarh (204.92 MU), Delhi (188.77 MU), and private firm, Jindal Power Limited (160.09 MU). On the other hand, the lowest quantum of unscheduled exports were observed from the north-eastern state of Mizoram, 0.08 MU.  Haryana (295.92 MU), along with Rajasthan (281.08 MU), Uttar Pradesh (195.69 MU), Punjab (184.66 MU) and Karnataka (151.25 MU) emerged as the top importers of electricity, accounting for a total of 1,108.60 MU, or 59.44% of the total UI imports. 

IEX & PXIL transact 1712 MU

According to the latest report for January 2010, a total of 856.06 million units (MU) of electricity were sold by various states through the two power exchanges-- Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL)-- as compared to the 640.09 MU recorded in December 2009.

The Western-region state of Gujarat sold the largest quantum of electricity in this manner, 327.47 MU, which constitutes 38.25% of the total, followed by Chhattisgarh, at 173.82 MU, or 20.30% of all transactions. Next in line are Karnataka (117.68 MU), private power firm, Jindal Power Limited (96.88 MU) and Delhi (52.38 MU). Accordingly, Tamil Nadu purchased the highest quantum, of 287.64 MU, followed by Maharashtra (112.64 MU), Uttar Pradesh (107.64 MU), Rajasthan (103.33 MU) and Kerala (69.12 MU).
Power exchanges continue to charge lower prices

The two power exchanges in the country, Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL), continued to trade power under lower price bands, for the fifth consecutive month, in January 2010. Earlier, these power exchanges, which historically sold the most expensive electricity among the power market players, had to restrict their maximum price at Rs 8 per unit as per the provisions of the CERC order that came into effect on September 11, 2009.

During January 2010, the minimum, maximum and weighted average prices of electricity transacted through power exchanges were Rs 0.10, Rs 6.75 and Rs 3.46, respectively for IEX, and Rs 0.75, Rs 7 and Rs 3.33, correspondingly, for PXIL. The weighted average price of electricity transacted through IEX via the newly introduced ‘day ahead contingency contracts’ was Rs 3.46/kWh.