As per sub-section 2, of section 42 of the Electricity Act 2003, electricity consumers now have the right to procure power from the supplier of their choice other than their distribution company. They can make use of the existing transmission and distribution infrastructure after paying appropriate charges determined by their respective State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) E.g., under open-access a consumer in Tamil Nadu has right to select the source of supply form any generator. This generator may be generating power in Tamil Nadu or any other state in India. Open Access was introduced in the Electricity Act to bring in competition into the sector, thereby benefitting the end consumer. Over the years, it has acted as a catalyst in bringing reforms into the sector by benefitting the players across the spectrum of value-chain from generators to suppliers to electricity traders to the end consumers.

Any consumer having connected load of 1 MW and above can avail open access. However, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission formulates and regulates the open access provisions at the state level, so the basic eligibility to avail open access may vary from state to state. While most of the states have still kept 1 MW as the minimum load to participate in open access, states like Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh have reduced it to 0.1 MW. Thus, primarily the industrial and commercial consumers like office complexes, hotels, hospitals, shoping complexes and other large establishments can make use of Open Access.

No, the existing transmission and distribution infrastructure can be used to avail the open access. Besides minor changes in the meter installed, open access transactions are essentially managed through energy accounting at the state level. Thus, a consumer buying power from open access will see the transaction accounted for in its monthly bill.

Primarily, a consumer can source power either directly from a generator located within the state (intra-state) or any other state (inter-state). These power purchase agreements are categorised as bilateral transactions. A significant quantum of power is still traded through bilateral transactions. Apart from them, we also have national-level power trading platforms like Power Exchanges (PXs) based on the lines of energy exchanges operating in Western countries. In India, we have two operating PXs since 2008 i.e. Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and Power Exchange India (PXI); At PX, power can be sourced for few hours of the same day,on a Day-Ahead and week-Ahead basis s. While bilateral mode of transaction brings volumetric and price certainty for a relatively longer duration, sourcing power from PXs provides advantages such as better price discovery, risk mitigation from counter-party default. Thus, adopting a combination of two would potentially yield significant energy cost savings and long term energy security.

Bilateral power purchase agreement (PPA) is a contract between two parties, one who generates electricity for the purpose of sale of electricity (the seller) and one who is looking to purchase electricity (the buyer). The PPA defines all of the commercial terms for the sale of electricity between the two parties, including when the project will begin commercial operation, schedule for delivery of electricity, penalties for under delivery, payment terms, and termination clauses. Power Exchange transactions are transactions carried out over an electronic platform. At power exchanges consumers can buy/sell electricity on day-ahead/week-ahead basis or for particular time period in a day. Buyer/Seller will be bidding for electricity cost for particular time period and for each time perid price at which electricity is determined by market. There are two power exchanges in India namely Indian Energy Exchange(IEX) and Power Exchange India Ltd (PXIL).

When buyer and seller are located in the same state, then it is called an Intra-state transaction. In this case, the open access charges comprising transmission losses and charges wheeling losses and charges (if applicable) and cross-subsidy of that particular state are applicable. However, when the buyer and seller are in located in different states then it is called as an Inter-state transaction. In this case, apart from the open access charges applicable in intra-state transactions, Point-of-Connection (POC) charges and losses of the regional grids where the buyer and seller are locatd are also applicable.

Yes, in many states various concessions are given to promote Renewable Energy. Some of the key concessional provisions like concessional wheeling and transmission charges, banking facility benefits, electricity tax / duty exemptions, waiver or discount in cross-subsidy-charges etc., reduce the cost of transaction significantly and allow RE generators to offer better commercial terms to consumers.

clickpower.in is also a marketplace like power exchanges where seller and buyer can explore the various options w.r.t to buying/selling power primarily for bilateral PPA. The key difference between clickpower.in and PX is that while the former offers opportunity to buyers and sellers to explore the best possible price available with no transactional services being made available including financial settlement, while the later offers discovery of buyers and sellers and hence price along with financial settlement. Another key difference between clickpower.in and PX is – Similarly, the former allows the leverage to discover buyers/sellers through a number of options such as highly customized way third-party, sale, group captive, wheeling & banking mode etc), the later allows participants to participate only in pre-approved standardised contracts.

Knowledge Tools: Certain knowledge tools can be used by everyone without any formal registration requirements. However, to get the access to the main application – Bilateral Power Marketplace and some complex and advanced knowledge tools, the buyers and sellers need to get registered. You can become a registered user by following some easy steps mentioned below:

• Step 1. Visit clickpower.in
• Step 2. Provide your details under “Book-a-Demo”.
• Step 3. Our executive will get back to you within 48 hours with list of documents required and further process.
• Step 4. Once the documents are validated and registration is approved, you can start making use of full application of clickpower.in.