Shri Piyush Goyal,
Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy launched
“DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) e-Bidding & e-Reverse Auction
portal” for procurement of short term power by DISCOMs here today.
The web portal is
accessible to all the stakeholders in the Power Sector through www.mstcecommerce.com. The link is also available in the websites of Ministry of
Power www.powermin.nic.in and PFC Consulting Ltd www.pfcclindia.com
Speaking on the
occasion, Shri Piyush Goyal said that the web portal will ensure seamless flow
of power from seller to buyer. It will be a very strong weapon to curb illegal
transactions and will help in price reduction through competition. Taking the
web portal to next level, the Minister added that all states should put their
power purchase data on the portal within one month. He also directed that first
five states to put data within 1 week will be rewarded. The Minister also
witnessed the signing of “Power for All” agreement by the states of Madhya
Pradesh, Nagaland and Himachal Pradesh.
The short term procurement could be
for a period of more than one day up to one year. Currently out of total
generation of around 91671.33MUs, above 10% (9215.24MUs)
is transacted through short term through bilateral and through power exchanges
etc.
The Guidelines for short term
procurement of power has already been notified by Ministry of Power, Government
of India w.e.f.April 1, 2016, making it mandatory for all the Procurer(s) to
procure short term power by using this e-Bidding portal. Power Procurement from
Power Exchange shall be excluded from the scope of these guidelines This
would introduce uniformity and transparency in power procurement by the DISCOMs
and at the same time promote competition in electricity sector. The scope of
this portal shall be further expanded soon to cover medium term and long term
procurement of power.
This e-Reverse auction process
for competitive procurement is expected to result in overall reduction of cost
of procurement of power thereby significantly benefiting the ultimate
consumers. This will also provide a common e-bidding platform with
e-Reverse Auction facility, provide nation-wide power procurement to a wider
network including the stakeholders in power sector, to bring uniformity in the
process of power procurement.
The web portal is a
common e-bidding platform with e-Reverse Auction facility. The advantages
include dissemination of information on nationwide power procurement to a wider
network including the stakeholders in power sector; Uniformity in the process
of power procurement and enabling Distribution Licensees to procure power in a
short time. Bidders have the option to bid multiple bids from separate logins
either from same or different sources. Bidders also can quote their best prices
and need not match or bid lower price against the prevailing lowest Bidder. The
portal builds confidence through
transparency and efficiency in the procurement of power.
RM/PS