Average spot power price likely to be Rs 3.40/unit in August

Average spot power price is likely to be around Rs 3.40 per unit in August on account of higher supplies especially from hydro and wind energy segments.

"The average spot power price will be lower at around Rs 3.40 per unit in August. During this month, the demand has come down substantially. Moreover, supplies from hydro and wind energy (in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu) have increased," a power sector expert said.

"The peak power demand on August 8 was 158 gigawatt (GW) . This would not go beyond 165 GW this month. In July, peak power demand was 175 GW in the country," the expert said.

During the monsoon season, power load of air conditioners and agriculture (for irrigation) comes down and it results in lower demand for power across the country.

On pan-India basis, peak demand met touched 175 GW -- registering a 4 per cent increase on Y-o-Y (year on year) basis, while all-India energy supply stood at 117 billion units -- rising 6 per cent y-o-y, as per National Load Dispatch Centre data.

The average power price had dropped by 2 per cent to Rs 3.38 per unit in July at the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) as compared with Rs 3.46 per unit in same month a year ago.

In the day ahead market on Indian Energy Exchange, the average market clearing price on August 10, for supply on August 11, was Rs 2.69 per unit. The maximum market clearing price (spot power price) was Rs 4.87 per unit on August 10, for supply on August 11 at IEX. Similarly the minimum spot power price was 1.8 per unit.

The expert said, "The minimum price of power dipped to Rs 1.8 per unit on August 10, for supply on August 11. This clearly reflects slump in demand.