Power tariff touched a fresh decade-high of Rs 18.20 per unit at the spot market on Wednesday as electricity demand mainly for evening hours continues to outstrip supply amid low wind and hydro energy production.
Coal shortage at independent thermal power plants and captive power plants has also affected supplies to the grid, forcing big power consumers to make a beeline at the exchange, according to sources.
A total of 268 MU (million units) were sold for supply on Thursday, the IEX data showed. In the DAM trading session concluded Wednesday at IEX, there were buy bids for 332 MU against sell bids for 288 MU.
"Spot power price for supply on Thursday touched 10-year high of Rs 18.20 per unit in spot trading on Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) on Wednesday. The average spot power price was also high at Rs 7.50 per unit at IEX on Wednesday," a source said.
The power price have seen an upward trend in the day ahead market (DAM) at IEX since September 23 when it touched to a high of Rs 14.09 per unit. The prices soared further to hit a nine-year high of Rs 16.49 per unit in the day ahead market on September 28. The spot power rate touched another high of Rs 17.61 per unit in trading at IEX on Sunday for supply on Monday. It touched another higher of Rs 18 on Wednesday.
According to the IEX data, the previous high was recorded at Rs 17 per unit in August 2009 while all-time high rate of Rs 20 per unit was recorded in 2008 when the exchange started operations.
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Power Secretary A K Bhalla last week said that around this time of the year wind energy suddenly goes down and hydro also starts declining that is where some constraints always come in.
"We were not able to build coal stocks in power plants especially in northern states," he had said.
The source said captive power plants (CPPs) were grappling with the issue of coal shortage and were unable to meet the in-house demand of industries like steel, aluminium and cement, forcing them to buy power from the exchange.
CPPs generate electricity for their own manufacturing facilities like steel, cement and others.
According to the Central Electricity Authority data, as many as 22 thermal plants had coal stocks of less than seven days of consumption as on September 30.
Last Thursday, Power Minister R K Singh had asked state power generators like NTPC and DVC to strengthen their coal mining wing and secure more coal mines noting that supply of the dry fuel to power plants was still a concern.