In a bid to diversify its portfolio, the state-owned Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Limited (NLCIL), has announced its foray into power trading business.

In a statement issued by the company, NLCIL said that it has received Category I licence from the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) for power trading in the country.

Earlier in 2016, NLCIL had started trading Un-Requisitioned Surplus Power (URS) through NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam limited (NVVN). This had generated a total revenue of ₹1.34 billion (~$0.020 billion) for NLCIL in 2016-17, and the revenue later increased to ₹2.94 billion (~$0.043 billion) in 2017-18.

The new development makes NLCIL an independent power trader in the power market. It aims to employ an exclusive power trading arm for its power trading activity. NLCIL will procure power for this purpose through bilateral agreements from generation companies (GENCOS).

This will enable the surplus power from GENCOS to be effectively utilized, which otherwise would have gone waste.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, NLC India has operational solar projects aggregating 140 MW and has a project pipeline of around 1.2 GW.

NLC India targets to develop 4 GW of solar projects by 2022.

Mercom recently reported that NLC India commissioned 300 MW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in the state of Tamil Nadu.

In March 2018, it also tendered 20 MW of grid-connected solar PV project with Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) to be developed on the island of Andaman & Nicobar.

Recently, Mercom also reported that NLCIL might have to bear a loss of ₹1.36 (~$0.020)/kWh for the 500 MW of grid-connected solar projects, which are being developed in the state of Tamil Nadu due to delays in commissioning.