Transmission congestion continues to impede power trade

Transmission constraints hampered power trading during the month of April affecting both prices and volumes of electricity traded in the country.
Even with the increase in demand for electricity, the total volume traded at the exchange in the month of April, 2014, declined by over 8 per cent to 2,088 million units. The volumes were 2,281 million units in March this year.
"With onset of the summers, the demand for electricity has been increasing while the supply has remained constrained largely due to unavailability of the transmission corridor," IEX (Indian Energy Exchange) said in a statement.
These constraints hindered trade both in terms of price as well as volume, in day-ahead spot power market at IEX, the statement said.

The southern states were unable to import electricity, which further deteriorated the power deficit there, while Chhattisgarh and other states in Western region where there is high concentration of generation could not evacuate power to other parts of the country, it added.
On a daily basis, the cleared volume showed wide variation through the month - varying from 48 million units on April 1 to 95 million units on April 29, the statement said.
The transmission constraints also led to the firming up of prices on the exchange.
"Once the transmission connectivity of Southern region with the Eastern and Western region improves, more power will be able to flow from power surplus to the power starved southern region," the statement added.