Visakhapatnam: For the first time for any state in the country, the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission notified the APERC (terms and conditions for short-term procurement/sale of power) Regulation, 2022.
The major objectives of the move are to streamline the short-term power procurement process, provide a clear-cut framework and guidelines, and optimise power purchase costs.
As per the officials, this Regulation mandates the publication of the monthly-, weekly- and day-ahead power requirement communicated by the state load despatch centre to the Discoms on latter’s websites.
It also stipulates the procedures for reserve shutdowns, demand estimation based on the latest artificial intelligence tools, and when to resort to purchase/sale of energy from/to the market by the Discoms.
The Regulation enforces full despatch of cheaper power from the approved thermal power plants, which reduces the overall power purchase costs. It also provides for the constitution of a common round-the-clock dedicated cell by the Discoms. These will monitor the energy prices in the power exchanges continuously and purchase/sell energy at the right time to save power purchase costs.
At present, the short-term power procurements by the Discoms for a period up to one year are being regulated by the specific directions issued by the Commission in the retail supply tariff orders. The guidelines and directions issued by the erstwhile APERC of the undivided Andhra Pradesh are also being followed for the same.
The increased share of renewable energy (RE) capacity (about 50 percent of the total installed capacity), which is intermittent and unpredictable in nature, has been forcing the Discoms to procure energy from the market on a short-term basis.
The major objectives of the move are to streamline the short-term power procurement process, provide a clear-cut framework and guidelines, and optimise power purchase costs.
As per the officials, this Regulation mandates the publication of the monthly-, weekly- and day-ahead power requirement communicated by the state load despatch centre to the Discoms on latter’s websites.
It also stipulates the procedures for reserve shutdowns, demand estimation based on the latest artificial intelligence tools, and when to resort to purchase/sale of energy from/to the market by the Discoms.
The Regulation enforces full despatch of cheaper power from the approved thermal power plants, which reduces the overall power purchase costs. It also provides for the constitution of a common round-the-clock dedicated cell by the Discoms. These will monitor the energy prices in the power exchanges continuously and purchase/sell energy at the right time to save power purchase costs.
At present, the short-term power procurements by the Discoms for a period up to one year are being regulated by the specific directions issued by the Commission in the retail supply tariff orders. The guidelines and directions issued by the erstwhile APERC of the undivided Andhra Pradesh are also being followed for the same.
The increased share of renewable energy (RE) capacity (about 50 percent of the total installed capacity), which is intermittent and unpredictable in nature, has been forcing the Discoms to procure energy from the market on a short-term basis.
