Tata Power gets first trading licence

Tata Power Trading Company Ltd (TPTCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tata Power Company (TPC), has been awarded the first ever power trading licence by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) under Section 14 of the Electricity Act 2003.

TPTCL is the first trading entity to be granted a licence, enabling it to carry out transactions all over India, a press statement issued by Tata Power says.

In the current scenario, where there are pockets of surplus power along with large areas of deficit, inter-state power trading is a significant tool to meet the country's power supply needs in an open market framework.

Trading in power requires superior skill-sets in risk management, and the ability to leverage opportunities and deliver instant value to customers.

TPTCL will trade in surplus power of state electricity boards, captive power plants and generating companies as also the power output of merchant power plants, which are currently under execution by TPC and others.

N K Gupta, director of TPTCL, will be at the helm of affairs. A veteran in the power business, Gupta has over 38 years of core experience.

A number of private sector players like the Reliance, Essar and Adani groups have lined up plans for power trading after the passage of the Electricity Act 2003, which allows private sector participation in this activity.

Power trading is still a nascent industry in India with Power Trading Corporation (a PSU) being the first company to commence operations in the area in the late nineties.

TPTCL will introduce initiatives including "Time-of-the-Day" trading, trading on day-to-day basis / hour-to-hour basis, trading for very short term - including only part of the day and trading of non-requisitioned power.

It will engage in pooling of power as well as developing infrastructure to leverage the opportunities of trading power on real time basis including monitoring round-the-clock flow of power in a centralized control room.

TPTCL will meet the diverse needs of its customers by acting as a single window providing a bundle of efficient services.