The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has approved a nationwide framework for solar and non-solar electricity trading slots across power exchanges, rejecting proposals for region-wise and customised peak-hour contracts amid concerns that fragmented products could weaken liquidity, distort price discovery and complicate India’s short-term power market.
Under the approved framework, CERC cleared Round-the-Clock (RTC) contracts for 00-24 hours, Solar contracts for 06-18 hours and Non-Solar contracts for 18-06 hours. It also approved Morning contracts for 06-09 hours, Day contracts for 09-18 hours, Evening contracts for 18-24 hours and Night contracts for 00-06 hours.
“We find merit in Grid India’s suggestion for structuring TAM contracts based on solar and Non-Solar hours instead of Peak and Off-Peak hours,” the Commission said in its order.
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Standardizing Timelines
The order marks a major restructuring of the country’s electricity trading architecture and comes at a time when India’s power markets are witnessing rising renewable energy penetration, sharper evening demand peaks and increasing dependence on exchange-based electricity procurement.
The decision follows petitions filed by Indian Energy Exchange Ltd (IEX), Power Exchange India Ltd (PXIL) and Hindustan Power Exchange Ltd (HPX) after CERC’s April 28, 2025 suo motu order directing exchanges to discontinue user-defined and hourly slots in Term Ahead Market (TAM), Green Term Ahead Market (G-TAM) and High Price Term Ahead Market (HP-TAM) contracts and shift to standardised pre-specified delivery slots.
Following stakeholder consultations, IEX proposed seven categories including Peak, Night, Morning, Day, Solar, Non-Solar and RTC contracts. PXIL proposed separate morning and evening peak slots along with day off-peak, night off-peak and RTC contracts, while HPX suggested two-hourly delivery slots across solar, non-solar, RTC and peak-hour categories.
Why National Alignment
Several distribution companies and state utilities had sought region-specific and seasonal peak contracts, arguing that electricity demand patterns vary across states and climatic zones.
However, Grid India informed the Commission that “a common national peak slot was not feasible” because electricity demand peaks differ significantly across regions. It noted that Northern Region currently sees peak demand between 18:30-21:30 hours and 22:00-23:00 hours, while Southern Region experiences both morning and evening peaks.
Grid India also pointed out that Regional Load Despatch Centres (RLDCs) notify peak and off-peak hours only one month in advance, whereas TAM contracts are traded for significantly longer durations, including proposals extending up to 11 months.
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The grid operator instead recommended structuring contracts around solar and non-solar periods, observing that “market price pressure is during the non-solar hours of the country as a whole and not on a regional basis”.
Accepting the recommendation, CERC said allowing multiple regional or customised slots “would fragment liquidity, reduce market depth in each slot, impair price discovery and reintroduce the very complexity” the earlier order aimed to eliminate.
The Commission further said proposals involving “multiple regional and seasonal peak and off-peak periods, two-hourly slots, and differential slot durations are not aligned with the objectives of pre-specified time slots”.
CERC has now directed Grid India to periodically notify solar and non-solar hours on a national basis while accounting for regional variations “as far as possible”. Power exchanges will subsequently have to align their contract structures with the revised timings.
For renewable energy contracts under G-TAM other than hydro, the regulator allowed renewable generators to create bidding profiles within approved slots to account for generation variability. However, Grid India has been directed to examine whether such flexibility could lead to misuse and submit a report within two months.
The order is expected to standardise contract design across exchanges while aligning electricity trading more closely with India’s evolving renewable energy generation profile and evening demand trends.
TOPICSSolar EnergyThis article was first uploaded on May twenty-two, twenty twenty-six, at thirteen minutes past seven in the evening.