According to the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), the all India peak demand touched 162 GW in January 2019, registering a 4 percent increase over the peak demand registered in January 2018. In December, the peak demand was 163 GW. On a pan India basis, the energy supplied in January 2019 registered an increase of 3 percent compared to last year.

The spot power price shot up to ₹3.33 (~$0.048)/kWh, a ₹0.03 (~$0.00043)/kWh increase over the spot power price of ₹3.30 (~$0.047)/kWh recorded in December 2018. The spot power price increased by 4 percent when compared to the spot power price of ₹3.20 (~$0.046)/kWh in January 2018.

The market clearing price and volume in January 2019 remained almost same as that in December 2018 mainly on account of winter and subdued demand for power, especially in the northern states. “One Nation One Price” was realized for 18 days during the month.

A market insider said that coal issues have been affecting the power sector for more than eight months now. “Until coal issue is sorted out, we won’t see prices going down,” said the source. The market insider also said that underlining these dark clouds is the silver lining that the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission is proactively working to put the entire capacity to optimum use. Its staff paper on aligning the power market and the suo motu order on scheduling of all interstate generating systems is a move in the right direction.

The day-ahead market (DAM) experienced transmission congestion of 1.6 percent mainly in the import towards the southern region. On daily average basis, 686 participants traded in the market during the month.

With the trade of 3,281 million units (MUs), the volume in the DAM saw an increase of 7 percent month on month basis and a decline of 3 percent year-over-year. On a daily average basis, about 106 million units were traded.

The term ahead market traded 102 MUs in January 2019, an increase of 5 percent compared to December 2018 and an increase of 98 percent compared to January 2018.