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A Round Table conference on Power Trading in India –The way forward was conducted by MDI School of Energy Management, Gurgaon on 23rd October at MDI, Gurgaon. The conference was attended by prominent experts from the Power Sector. The conference was chaired by Mr. T. N. Thakur, CMD, and PTC. It was also attended by Mr. T. R. Dhaka, Retd., Member of Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission, Mr. Akhilesh Avasthi, VP(Marketing) of Indian Energy Exchange, Mr. Mahesh Vipradas, Head Regulatory, Suzlon Energy Ltd and Mr. Rakesh Mahajan, Director, Lanco Infratech.
The conference started with Mr. T. N. Thakur lighting the auspicious lamp and Dr. Atmanand, Dean, MDI School of Energy Management welcoming the members and initiating the meeting with his visionary thoughts and in-depth knowledge of the power sector.
The Conference focused on the various issues affecting the Power Trading from the perspective of the power trader, regulator, generator, promoter and consumer. The central theme of the discussion was how to create an environment that can enhance Power Trading in the country and what are the various policy issues that need to be addressed for establishing an efficient market for power. The conference discussed about the technical, political, legal and social issues pertaining to power trading in India.
Mr. T.N. Thakur emphasized that we have to encourage investments in the Power sector and to create a market where people can buy and sell power and he also stressed upon the need for regulator to establish consistent policy with regard to the various modes of trading like Unscheduled Interchange, bilateral trade and trade through exchanges.
Mr. Avasthi briefed about the establishment of Power Exchange which has been successful on two fronts. First it provided a platform for Power generators producing power below 20 MW to trade power which was not viable under for traders earlier. Secondly the Exchange has helped to standardize the power trading business.
Mr. Vipradas raised the concern which has to be addressed for Renewable Energy Generators to become a participant in the Power trading process. First point is the forecasting of wind to enable scheduling of power generation which is a basic requirement for Power trading and second building awareness among the generators regarding the benefits of power trading through Exchanges.
Mr. Mahajan raised the burning issue of accountability of regulators. He has also stressed on the importance of uniform direction in the policy making process. He also expressed that at in present scenario it is difficult to sell in short term with long term conditions for generators.
Mr. Dhaka expressed his views from the consumer point of view and elaborated on the need for the role of Regulators in ensuring that the consumer’s interests are safeguarded.
The delegates to the round table were the executives working in power sector from M.P., U.P., Gujarat, A.P., Maharshtra, Haryana, NDPL, and private organizations like L&T, OIC, Maruti, HAL, Clark Energy, Satyam, Infosys, Asian Paints, Reliance Energy, J8indal Industries, DVC, Ansaldo, BSES, Datagen.
During questions hour the participants raised questions relating to different aspects of power trading like roles of TRAI and CERC international dimensions, cross subsidy factor, emergence of Captive Power Plant, competitive future scenarios of the power exchanges.
While giving vote of thanks to the guests and participants, Dr. Atmanand, Dean, Executive Post Graduate Programme and member advisory committee, Govt. of India, Ministry of Power, said that power trading has to be competitive in the power values chain from consumer to generators. Dr. Atmanand, Dean MDI brought the round table to a logical conclusion and expressed his views on taking the power trading forward in India.
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