Andhra Pradesh energy minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy
VISAKHAPATNAM: Andhra Pradesh has saved around Rs 2,350 crore by purchasing electricity in spot markets at cost effective prices in the last two years, i.e., 2019–20 and 2020–21.
The power utilities procured 3,393 million units in 2019-20 and 8,890 MU in 2020-21 from the open market at cheaper prices.
The average cost of procurement, including transmission charges, was Rs 3.12 per unit against the approved weighted average procurement cost of Rs 4.55/unit.
Apart from depending on power purchases in the spot market, for the first time in India, the state power utilities deployed day-ahead electricity forecasting model using artificial intelligence and machine learning. This could forecast the next day’s electricity consumption on every 15-minute basis. This would in turn enable taking right decisions on electricity demand and supply, grid management, and minimising power purchase cost.