NEW DELHI: While the Centre is scrambling to restore normalcy in coal supply to thermal power plants, several power deficit states have been forced to spend scarce resources on buying energy from the national exchange at extremely high rates to avoid power cuts.
Tenders for 15-minute real-time blocks are invited by the Indian Energy Exchange 1.5 hours before the actual sale. The normal cost through this mode is Rs 5-6 per unit, but because of the crippling coal crisis, the rate has shot up to Rs 20 a unit now.
Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday bought a peak hour block of 2,102 MW at Rs 20 per unit for 15 minutes from 6.30 pm to 6.45 pm, and at the same rate from 7 pm to 7.15 pm. On Tuesday, it procured 2,000 MW in two 15-minute blocks at Rs 20 a unit. On an average, the state buys 28-40 million units of power from private players in the market and exchanges daily.
Kerala, too, has been doing real-time buying of around 0.4-1.10 million units each day from the exchange, spending about Rs 20 per unit. As for Rajasthan, it has been forced to buy around 4 crore units of electricity each day at rates between Rs 15 and Rs 20 a unit. That works out a needless daily spend of around Rs 80 crore. The rate during normal times is Rs 3-4 per unit.
With Bihar Chief Minister promising uninterrupted power during the festival period, his government has been purchasing over 1,200 MW at Rs 20 per unit to bridge the gap. The Punjab government spent about Rs 282 crore in the last 13 days to buy costly power from the exchange.
On Wednesday, it bought 1,800 MW at Rs 10.55 per unit. Its per unit deal with the exchange on Tuesday was for Rs 14.06. Reports from poll-bound Uttar Pradesh indicate it struggling to manage its energy demand, as load shedding is continuing in rural areas.
With about eight thermal units shut for want of coal, the state government has been compelled to purchase power from the exchange for around Rs 13 a unit, yet the gulf between demand and supply remains.
Some states selling surplus power to grid
On the flip side, Karnataka is selling power to the grid due to rise in its renewable energy generation. According a senior official from Power Company of Karnataka Ltd, the rate of sale of solar energy depends on the Indian Electricity Exchange and the Power Exchange of India Ltd, where prices fluctuate every 15 minutes.
Odisha and Telangana, too, sell energy to the national grid. For example, on Thursday Odisha sold around 500 MW during off-peak hours. "Telangana has been selling power since the last two months," said TS Transco and Genco chairman and managing director Devulapalli Prabhakar Rao.
As for Tamil Nadu, it has not purchased power from private players through the spot price system since 2010. But officials at the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (Tangedco) in Chennai said, if the coal crisis continues, it may be forced to go to the spot market to procure energy.
Aluminum Industry's pushback
With the Centre taking temporary measures like stoppage of secured coal supplies and rakes for the non-power sector, there was pushback from aluminum manufacturers. They issued an SOS, saying the supply halt will jeopardise the sustainability of their plants as they are not designed for ad-hoc shut downs and restarts
(With inputs from ENS bureau)