Chhattisgarh, Delhi among top 5 power-selling states

Sanjay Jog
2009-04-25
Chattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, West Bengal and Punjab have emerged as the top five states selling electricity, while the top five states purchasing electricity are Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. According to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (CERC) market monitoring cell report for February, the top five states are selling 71.19% of the total volume, while the top five states are purchasing 73.05% of the volume.

Of the total power exchange transactions, the top five states, which sell 87.50% of the volume, are Gujarat, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Assam , while those purchasing 98.15% of the volume are Maharashtra , Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Rajasthan.

In February, the total electricity generation in India, excluding generation from renewables and captive power plants, was 57121.74 million units (mu). Of the total electricity generation, 3935.62 mu (6.89%) was through short-term transactions and 2148.94 mu (3.76%) through bilateral transactions (traders and distribution companies), followed by 1569.11 mu (2.75%) through unscheduled interchange (UI) and 217.57 mu (0.38%) through power exchanges. Of the total short-term transactions of electricity, 54.60% was traded through bilateral transactions, followed by 39.87% through UI and 5.53% through power exchanges.

The price of electricity traded through trading licensees is comparable with the price of electricity transacted through power exchanges and UI. The price range was between Rs 6.58 - Rs 7.68 per unit. A Mumbai-based analyst, on the condition of anonymity, told FE, “It is quite clear that utilities continue to favour bilateral transactions, and not trading through power exchanges. It is also interesting that even when Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and Power Exchange India (PXI) are struggling to keep going, a third exchange promoted by NTPC is expected to get the CERC’s approval soon.”

The gap between the volume of buy bids and sale bids, placed through power exchanges, showed the demand was more (1.14 times), compared with the supply offered through IEX, and less (0.65 times) compared with the supply through PXI.

The average UI price was Rs 4.89 in the NEW grid (north, east, and west) and Rs 7.68 in the southern region (SR) grid. The power deficit is more in the SR, compared with other regions, and therefore the UI price was higher in the SR grid compared with the NEW grid. The minimum and maximum prices of UI were Rs 0.24 and Rs 9.64, respectively in the NEW grid and...