Discoms make a beeline for cheaper power supplied by NTPC under SCED system
A large number of discoms are making a beeline for the power supplied by NTPC under the SCED system which facilitates supply of cheaper electricity on priority, industry sources said.
Under SCED (Security Constrained Economic Dispatch), implemented over a year ago, power generating companies raise capacity utilisation of more efficient plants or of those units which are located closer to coal mines and thus have lower freight cost.
As a result, the cost of power production goes down, which benefits both the distribution companies (discoms) and end consumers.
The mechanism then pools supply from selected stations on a national-level ‘merit order’, under which power is first dispatched from lower fuel cost units whenever any state seeks electricity from the central pool.
