New Delhi: The Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) on Monday announced the start of cross-border electricity trading (CBET) on its platform. It is a first-of-its-kind initiative for the exchanges to expand their power markets outside India to the South Asia region to build an integrated local regional market in South Asia, IEX said in a statement.
In a remarkable development following the notification of CBET regulations by CERC (Central Electricity Regulatory Commission) in the year 2019 and the recent notification of CBET rules in March 2021 by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), NVVN (Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd, a trading company) arm of NTPC) secured the approval of the CEA for Nepal’s participation in the day market on the stock exchange.
“The Indian Energy Exchange, India’s leading energy market, is pleased to announce the launch of the Cross Border Electricity Trade (CBET) on its platform,” the statement said. Currently, cross-border trade with neighboring India is at around 18 BU (billion units) done through medium to medium term bilateral contracts.
According to the CEA and CERC, India currently imports 8.7 BU from Bhutan and exports 2.37 BU and 7 BU to Nepal and Bangladesh respectively. Power trade with these countries is expected to increase to around 40 BU per FY22 and 70 BU to FY27, according to a study by IRADe.
Although macroeconomic growth in the South Asian region was one of the strongest in the world, the region faced challenges related to the balance between supply and demand and the low power consumption per capita.
SN Goel, chairman and managing director, IEX, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Nepal as the first country to start the cross-border trade in electricity.” With a large installed power generation base of 382 GW and a peak demand of about 185 GW, India is a country with surplus power, Goel added.
Source: Telangana Today