IEX DAM clears 1,22,675 MWh at avg MCP Rs. 5,710/MWh on 18 May; price swings 10x between solar hours and overnight peaks
The Indian Energy Exchange Day-Ahead Market recorded a highly volatile trading day on May 18, 2026.
The market cleared 1,22,675.37 MWh.
The weighted average Market Clearing Price stood at Rs. 5,710.26/MWh.
Total purchase bids reached 4,32,585.72 MWh.
Total sell bids stood at 4,02,337.61 MWh.
The data shows strong demand and sharp intraday price movement.
The day’s price range was extreme.
MCP fell to Rs. 1,512.96/MWh during Hour 9.
This was the 08:00-09:00 period.
Prices then rose to Rs. 10,000/MWh during off-peak night hours.
This included Hours 1-4 and Hours 20-24.
The gap shows the widening difference between solar-hour supply and evening or night scarcity.
Solar-hour price collapse
The low price during Hour 9 reflected strong solar-led supply.
As solar generation rises during the morning and midday period, market prices tend to soften.
In some hours, supply can exceed flexible demand.
This pushes prices sharply lower.
Such solar-hour price compression is now becoming a recurring feature of India’s power market.
The opposite happened during night hours.
Solar generation was unavailable.
Thermal, hydro, gas, storage, and short-term market supply had to meet the load.
This pushed prices to the exchange ceiling of Rs. 10,000/MWh.
The May 18 price curve shows how renewable energy is changing India’s electricity markets.
Earlier, price volatility was mainly driven by demand spikes or fuel constraints.
Now, the daily solar generation curve is also shaping market prices.
Cheap solar-hour power and expensive evening power are creating a new market pattern.
The Real-Time Market showed a similar pattern.
IEX RTM cleared 1,64,278.09 MWh on May 18.
The weighted average MCP stood at Rs. 4,935.44/MWh.
RTM price fell to Rs. 436.62/MWh during Hour 7.
It later rose to Rs. 8,486.50/MWh during Hour 19.
The Hour 19 RTM spike came during 18:00-19:00.
This is the period when solar generation fades and evening demand rises.
The price spike aligned with the Northern Region’s 601 MW peak shortage.
This shows how market prices reflect real-time system stress.
Industrial consumer impact
Industrial consumers with open access and flexible operations can benefit from this price pattern.
They can shift consumption to low-price solar hours.
They can reduce grid drawal during expensive night and evening periods.
This can lower procurement cost.
It can also support demand-side flexibility in the grid.
For DISCOMs, high evening and night prices create procurement pressure.
Buying from the exchange during peak hours can be expensive.
This strengthens the business case for battery storage.
A BESS can charge during low-price solar hours and discharge during high-price evening periods.
The May 18 price curve is exactly the type of signal storage developers watch.
A wide spread between low-price charging hours and high-price discharge hours can support storage economics.
Four-hour BESS systems are especially relevant for this kind of daily arbitrage.
They can help flatten the market curve and reduce peak procurement cost.
IEX’s May 18 DAM and RTM data show that India’s power market is becoming more volatile and more renewable-driven.
DAM cleared 1,22,675.37 MWh at an average MCP of Rs. 5,710.26/MWh.
Prices fell to Rs. 1,512.96/MWh during solar hours and rose to Rs. 10,000/MWh at night.
The next phase of market development will depend on storage, demand response, flexible thermal operations, and better real-time balancing.
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