Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) traded a record 78 MU (million units) of solar power in April, a 272% surge from the 21 MU traded in March 2021.

The exchange’s real-time power market registered a trading volume of 7,707 MU in April 2021, achieving a 90.2% year-over-year (YoY) growth.

According to the power demand data published by the National Load Dispatch Center, the national peak power demand was at 183 GW, while the peak demand and power consumption registered close to 40% YoY growth.

Green Term-Ahead Market

The green term-ahead market traded a volume of 186 MU during April 2021, including 78 MU in the solar segment and 108 MU in the non-solar segment, achieving a significant 262% month-over-month (MoM) growth.

A total of 34 members participated in the trading process, with distribution utilities from Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana, among others, as the key participants. In March, the number of participants was 24.

The market has been facilitating distribution utilities, industrial consumers, and green generators, to trade in renewable energy, IEX said.

The green term-ahead energy marketplace had traded a volume of 51 MU during March, with 21 MU in the solar segment and 30 MU in the non-solar sector.

IEX launched daily and weekly green contracts on its green market trading platform in December 2020.

Day-Ahead, Term-Ahead, and Real-Time Electricity Market

The day-ahead market traded 5,699 MU volume in April 2021, witnessing a significant 54% YoY growth. The average monthly price at ₹3.70 (~$0.050)/kWh witnessed a 53% increase over ₹2.42 (~$0.033)/kWh in the corresponding period in 2020.

The term-ahead market comprising intra-day, contingency, daily, and weekly contracts traded 349 MU during the month.

According to IEX, the real-time market saw the highest ever monthly volume of 1,473 MU in April 2021, achieving a 4.2% MoM growth. It also recorded the highest single-day volume of 68.36 MU on April 3, 2021. With sell-side bids at 1.8X of cleared volume, the market continued to have ample availability of power, IEX said.

Cross-Border Electricity Trade

During the month, IEX introduced cross-border electricity trade (CBET) on its platform. The initiative is a step towards building an integrated South Asian regional power market and support the growth of the energy ecosystem in the region. Nepal was the first country to have commenced electricity trade in IEX day-ahead market.

Renewable Energy Certificates

The renewable energy certificate (REC) trading session, which was scheduled for April 29, 2021, did not take place due to the stay order from the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) in response to the petitions filed by a few renewable energy associations regarding revision in the floor and forbearance prices of RECs.

The next hearing on the APTEL matter is scheduled for July 14, 2021.

Srinwanti is a copy editor at Mercom India, where she writes and edits news stories across the clean energy spectrum. Prior to Mercom, she has worked in book publishing at Macmillan Publishing House and Integra and honed her editorial and writing skills in both online and print media such as Reuters, Times Group Books, The Times of India, and Pune Mirror, covering local to international stories. More articles from Srinwanti Das.