Web Exclusive | April 2018
Spot power price up 25 per cent, expected to rise further
Prices of power in the spot market in India have risen 25 per cent to Rs 3.97 per unit in March from R 3.20 per unit in January and are expected to shoot further in the near future, owing to a host of structural and seasonal factors, CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory said. The factors include unmet and suppressed demand, no new thermal capacities announced in the past two years, and inability to meet peak demand because of mismatch with renewable energy generation curve and insufficient domestic coal supplies. Also, plants stressed owing to ongoing litigation and change in law provisions are unable to run at full capacity thereby adding to supply constraints. The average spot power price this year of Rs 3.43 per unit is a “huge leap from the Rs 2.50 average logged in the corresponding period of the past two fiscals. What’s more, monthly peak prices on power exchanges this year have averaged at Rs 7.1 which is almost twice the levels in fiscal 2017," the agency said.