Demand for clean-energy credits in India doubled in December

(Nanowerk News) Demand for Indian renewable-energy credits more than doubled in December from the previous month with volumes rising to the second-highest level this year.
Bids from companies seeking to buy credits climbed 106 percent from the November trading session, while sell bids gained 18 percent, according to data from REConnect Energy Solutions Pvt., an Indore-based trader. The credits sold for 1,500 rupees ($27) each, the floor price set by the regulator.
“One of the reasons for the increase could be that India’s Central Electricity Regulator is deciding on increasing the validity of renewable-energy credits for more than one year,” said Bharat Bhushan, a New Delhi-based analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “This could lead to a rise in prices in the future as sellers may tend to hold on to credits.
In India, significant buying happens in the second half of the financial year as companies try to meet their fiscal targets. That could be another reason for the increase, said Bhushan.
The government requires companies including state-run power distributors, Coal India Ltd. (COAL), Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), Tata Power Co. (TPWR) and other large power consumers to buy as much as 10 percent of their electricity every year from renewable sources. Those unable to secure enough clean power locally can meet their target by purchasing credits sold by wind and solar farms, hydropower and biomass plants from the country’s two power exchanges.
Each credit represents one megawatt-hour of clean electricity fed into the grid.
Source: By Archana Chaudhary, Bloomberg