Average spot power price down 25 pc at Rs 2.42/unit in April

The average spot power price in April fell 25 per cent to Rs 2.42 per unit as compared to the same month a year ago at the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX).

Besides, the power sales volume at 4,052 million units (MU) last month was down 6.6 per cent as compared to the year-ago period, an IEX statement said.

The statement said utilities continue to leverage the exchange to accrue significant financial savings as well as for supplying 24X7 uninterrupted power.

The national peak powerdemand in April was at 133GW, down 25 per cent from the same month in 2019. This was mainly due to contraction in commercial and industrial demand in the wake of the COVID-19 related preventive lockdown, it added.

The day-ahead market(DAM) volume was at 3,692 MU while the term-ahead market (TAM) volume was at 360 MU at the IEX in April.

The TAM segment recorded a significant 8 per cent year-on-year growth due to increased preference for TAM contractsamong southern, western and northern utilities, it added.

Power procurement by distribution utilities from southern, western and northern states such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab among others increased by over 10 per cent in April owing to ample power availability and very attractive prices, it said.

The total sell bids in DAM at 9,294 MU were about 2 times the buy bids at 3,917 MU during the month under review.

Robust sell side liquidity kept prices under check with average price at a low of Rs 2.42 per unit in April, down 25 per cent from Rs 3.22 per unit average price in the year-ago period, the IEX statement said.

One Nation One Price prevailed for 30 days during the month, it added.

On April 29, the REC (renewable energy certificates) Trading Session at IEX saw a total trade of 1.88 lakh RECs.