Government to buy electricity from ICB facilities during summer

For the months of April and May, when power supply in the day-ahead market (DAM) on power exchanges is anticipated to be less than the demand, the power ministry has announced a tender to purchase 1,500 megawatts (MW) of electricity from imported coal-based (ICB) plants. On the DEEP e-Bidding Portal, an electronic tender was posted for the purchase of energy from ICB plants with untied capacity by NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN).

In order to expedite the supply of 1,500 MW of electricity from ICB plants with untied capacity during the anticipated crunch time, NVVN, a subsidiary of NTPC, has been designated as a nodal agency (April 10 to May 10). The request for supply (RfS) document stated that it will guarantee a sufficient supply in DAM, which is therefore anticipated to have a moderating impact on clearing prices.

The deadline for bid submission is February 14 while on February 20, the pricing bids from eligible bidders will be revealed. The contract between the chosen bidders and NVVN will be signed on March 4 once the Letter of Award (LoA) is released on February 25. The tender document stated that NNVN intended to choose suitable bidders whose bids would be opened on the date specified in this RfS and who would be eligible for opening of price bids, followed by a reverse auction for issuing LOA through an open competitive bidding process in accordance with the procedure set forth herein.

Within 30 days of the LoA's date, the power supply from a few selected ICB facilities must start going to DAM. The chosen ICB plant must offer the capacity through a nodal agency on any of the power exchanges that have successfully run DAM for a continuous 30 days for each time block in order to give effect to such supply.