Average electricity price touch Rs 2.62/unit on IEX in May

Notwithstanding higher demand for power seen in many parts of the country, the average cost of electricity sold on the Indian Energy Exchange stood at just Rs 2.62 per unit last month.
In May, the volume of electricity traded on the bourse rose to 2,891 million units, compared to 2,463 MUs recorded in the previous month.
IEX, a leading exchange for trading of electricity, said price of power continued to remain low in May.
"The Market Clearing Price (MCP) was Rs 2.62 per unit (in May) two per cent below the last month's price... The daily average cleared volume in May was 93 MUs," it said in a statement.

In April, the MCP stood at Rs 2.68 per unit.
"Increase in traded volumes over the previous month was primarily due to increased buying by open access consumers who took advantage of the competitive prices discovered on the exchange," it added.

Reflecting less demand, the sell bids touched 4.7 billion units whereas the purchase bids were only 3.5 BUs in May.
"A total of about 2.9 BUs were traded in the spot market in May. The Eastern and North-Eastern States were the net sellers, while the Northern, Western and Southern States were the net buyers," the statement said.
Around 88 MUs were lost on account of inter-state transmission congestion, about 88 MUs were lost... The Southern region was the most affected," the statement said.