REC demand in India nears 412,000 in Dec 2013

Dec 27, 2013 - Demand for renewable energy certificates (RECs) in India for December reached a record for the fiscal year with 411,744 RECs redeemed in a single session, REConnect Energy Solutions Pvt said on Thursday.

In a monthly report the REC trading consultant explained that the redeemed volume for December matched marginally the volume of March 2013 -- the last month of the India's previous fiscal year. As a rule demand is highest near the close of the year when companies need to meet their renewable purchase obligation (RPO).

Total of 403,862 non-solar RECs were sold this month, with buy-bids jumping 30.73% month-on-month. REConnect said that the clearing ratio had surpassed 9% on both the Power Exchange India Ltd (PXIL) and the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX). That compares to clearing ratios of 15.2% on PXIL and 3.5% on the IEX for November.

Demand for solar RECs rose by 7.18% on the month, while REC supply was up 47.37%.

As for REC prices, both non-solar and solar certificates continued to trade at the floor. The price for non-solar RECs has stood at INR 1,500 (USD 24.17/EUR 17.59) apiece for 17 months now. For solar RECs it was INR 9,300 for a seventh month in a row.

Under the REC scheme, companies that produce renewable power in India but do not take advantage of the feed-in tariffs receive one REC per MWh generated. The RECs are traded on the last Wednesday of each month. Utilities and specific consumers are obliged under the RPO to purchase RECs or produce green electricity alone to help offset their environmental footprint.

(INR 100 = USD 1.611/EUR 1.173)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!