The two power exchanges in the country -- Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL) -- commenced Real-time Electricity Market (RTM) on their platforms. RTM will help buyers purchase electricity just an hour in advance. The RTM will have 48 auction sessions in a day wherein power generators with surplus capacity can sell anytime during the day.
In December 2019, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) approved the framework for RTM trading by power exchanges. Till now, exchanges had day-ahead, week-ahead, season-ahead markets and renewable energy certificates trading.
In the debut trading under RTM, the average price discovered at IEX’s platform was Rs 1.8 per unit for trading of 225 MW.
RTM is designed as a half-hourly market, comprising 48 auction sessions of 15-minute duration each. The auction sessions would be conducted during even time blocks of the hour with delivery to commence from one hour after the closure of trade session, PXIL said in a statement.
IEX said this trading model would benefit renewable energy generators most. “With the fast-paced shift towards renewable energy, RTM will facilitate the distribution utilities to manage the challenge of intermittency associated with renewables,” it said in a statement.
The market will help the utilities and system operators to forecast and schedule green energy in an effective way. “With the launch of RTM, the Indian energy markets are moving towards global standards of electricity trading and establishing the new energy order in the country. It will support the utilities in reducing dependence on grid deviation framework, of the order of 20 billion units in fiscal year 2020,” said Rajiv Srivastava, CEO & Managing Director, IEX Ltd
PXIL said its platform also has the provision for generators who may have faced a forced outage, to purchase power and fulfil their contractual commitments.
“RTM would be a game-changer in the electricity market as it, for the first time, allows generators with even long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) to participate in the vibrant power market of the country,’ said Prabhajit Kumar Sarkar, MD & CEO, PXIL.