The number of renewable energy certificates (RECs) traded on exchanges dropped 75 per cent to 3.16 lakh in April compared to 12.66 lakh in March this year in monthly auction held yesterday.
Power distribution companies as well as open access and captive consumers are under obligation to buy RECs from renewable energy producers under the Renewable Energy Purchase Obligation (RPO) mandated by central/state regulatory commission.
Two power exchanges -- Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL), approved by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission -- hold auction of RECs on the last Wednesday of every month.
"A total of 2.61 lacs RECs were traded in the REC market trading session held at IEX on 27 April, 2016. With April being the first month of FY 2016-17 annual compliance period, the market made a good start since same time last year only about 45,000 RECs were traded," IEX said in a statement.
Another power exchange PXIL said, "PXIL successfully conducted REC trading for the month of April 2016. The total cleared volume on the exchange was 54,667 RECs that led to PXIL having a Market Share of 17.29 per cent.
"In this month clearing ratio was 1.15 per cent due to low demand side participation. During this trading session, the prices in the solar and non-solar categories have remained at floor level."
"Prior to today's auction more than 1.69 Crore RECs were available in the market for trade, however the traded volume is low as this the first monthly auction of the year. The traded volumes are expected to increase in the coming months," PXIL added.
