India's Electricity Demand Boosts IEX

In October, with a significant surge in electricity consumption across India, the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) reported a substantial increase of 21% in its electricity volume, reaching 9,260 million units (MU). Their day-ahead market (DAM) also witnessed growth, rising by 8.3% to 4,742 MU compared to 4,379 MU in the same month last year. Data from the Grid Controller of India Limited (GRID-India) for October revealed a 22% increase in the country's energy consumption, reaching 139 billion units (BU) compared to the previous year. This increase was attributed to below-average rainfall in October and a lower consumption base in the previous year. The heightened power demand prompted distribution companies (Discoms) to actively engage in power purchases through the exchange to meet the growing demand, resulting in a significant increase in trade volumes on IEX. Additionally, this surge in demand led to a 68% rise in DAM prices, reaching Rs 6.45 per unit. During the month, the green day-ahead market (G-DAM) achieved a volume of 180.80 MU, with a weighted average price of Rs 6.37 per unit. The segment saw participation from 194 market participants. The green term-ahead market (G-TAM) recorded a volume of 7.23 MU in October, with a monthly average price for non-solar energy at Rs 8.40 per unit. The real-time electricity market (RTM) volume increased to 2,402 MU in October, compared to 2,265 MU in October 2022, marking a 6.1% increase. The RTM segment offers distribution utilities and industries greater flexibility for real-time balancing of power demand and supply, optimising their portfolios. The day-ahead contingency and term-ahead market (TAM), encompassing contingency, daily, weekly, and monthly contracts up to three months, traded 1,911 MU in October, marking a significant year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase of 207.6%.