Decentralized interchange scheduling in India

The paper presents a review of the decentralized interchange scheduling and despatch mechanism for Inter-State transactions in electricity as implemented in India. It elaborates the mechanisms adopted to address the fundamental power system problems of Unit commitment, Economic Dispatch and Generation Control of shared generation resources within the federal governance structure in India. The authors derive learning from the experience at the inter-state level and recommend implementation of the similar mechanism within the intra-State system for realizing the objective of economic and efficient operation of the electricity market in India. The paper also discusses the emerging challenges in Interchange Scheduling with the increasing number and volume of short-term open access transactions, envisaged integration of large scale Renewable Energy Sources and growing aspiration of market players in India.