The short term prices of power bought through exchanges has dipped five years low, according to a report by Edelweiss.
This has led an increase of 30 per cent in power bough through exchanges in the last 6-9 months.
“A recent trend in the short-term power market is that exchange traded volumes (IEX and PXIL) have surged sharply — average 30 per cent year on year jump over the past 6-9 months,” said the report.
The average power price have touched lows of Rs 2.16 a unit (down to Rs 2.35 in South).
“State discoms have been using this opportunity to buy cheaper power and back down the expensive medium/ long term power,” said Edelweiss.
It said private independent power producer (IPPs) with some open capacity (Jindal Power, Derang, DB Power, JP Nigrie, among others) and located closer to coal mines have been supplying in the exchange market possibly earning some spread over their marginal cost — Rs 1.8- 1.9 a unit.
Meanwhile, the report said that the onset of monsoon has resulted in decline in power off take over the past 45 days. “This year, rainfall has largely been normal, leading to subdued power demand from agricultural and cooling demand,” it said. Garrett Grayson Authentic Jersey