Electricity demand patterns are becoming increasingly dynamic due to weather events, economic activity and changing consumption behaviour. These developments have increased the need for faster and more efficient balancing mechanisms in the power system. To address short-term demand-supply mismatches, the real-time market (RTM) was introduced in June 2020 to enable buyers and sellers to manage short-term power imbalances closer to the time of delivery. It provides an organised market platform through which discoms and generators can buy or sell electricity in near real time. The market operates through 48 sessions every day, with electricity traded in 15-minute blocks. In this context, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has issued a discussion paper, titled “Shortening the Scheduling Timeline for Real Time Markets in India”, proposing a reduction in the scheduling timeline for the RTM. The proposal aims to bring market operations closer to real-time conditions and improve the efficiency of balancing operations in a renewable-rich grid.
Background
Under the existing framework, RTM follows a defined scheduling timeline between the closure of bidding and the actual delivery of power. The process includes multiple sequential activities undertaken by power exchanges, the National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC), regional load despatch centres and generators. These activities include market clearing, congestion checks, scheduling, security constrained unit commitment (SCUC), security constrained economic despatch (SCED) and ancillary service despatch.
The current framework provides for “gate closure”, which refers to the point after which no further bidding or schedule revision is permitted for a particular delivery block. At present, the RTM gate closes 60 minutes before delivery, while the overall timeline between the end of schedule revision and actual delivery is around 75 minutes.
The Indian Electricity Grid Code currently allows beneficiaries to revise schedules up to the seventh or eighth time block before delivery. Once the RTM for a specific block begins, no further schedule revision is allowed. These timelines were introduced when the RTM was launched, considering the operational and coordination requirements of the system operators and market participants. Over the past five years, the RTM has stabilised operationally, supported by improvements in automation and digital infrastructure. Systems such as the National Open Access Registry (NOAR) have enabled faster communication and coordination between stakeholders.
Need for change
The existing scheduling framework requires market participants to finalise revisions and bids significantly ahead of actual delivery. This creates a gap of more than one hour between gate closure and electricity despatch. During this period, actual demand and generation conditions can change considerably, particularly in the case of renewable energy generation and fluctuating load conditions.
As a result, market participants often face deviations between scheduled and actual generation or consumption. Such deviations attract charges under the deviation settlement mechanism (DSM). Renewable energy developers and industry associations have argued that the present schedule revision window is too rigid and does not reflect the operational characteristics of variable renewable energy generation.
Several stakeholders have, therefore, proposed reducing the gate closure period and permitting schedule revisions closer to delivery. Suggestions include reducing the revision timeline from the current seven or eight time blocks to three or four time blocks ahead of delivery. Some stakeholders have also recommended introducing near-real-time revisions in line with practices followed in advanced electricity markets. Shorter scheduling timelines would improve forecasting accuracy, reduce DSM exposure and enable better management of renewable energy variability.
The CERC observed that any reduction in the gate closure timeline would have implications for system security, despatch coordination and market operations. However, the commission also noted that considerable progress has been made in automation and digitalisation since the introduction of the RTM. The successful implementation of NOAR and automated scheduling systems has improved operational efficiency and reduced manual intervention in several market processes.
Proposed framework
The CERC has proposed to reduce the timeline between the end of schedule revision and the actual delivery of power from the existing 75 minutes to 50 minutes. Under the proposal, the time available to system operators after RTM clearing and before commencement of power delivery would be reduced from 45 minutes to 30 minutes, aided by automation through NOAR and automated SCUC, SCED and ancillary service clearing processes.
In addition, the RTM bidding window is proposed to be reduced from 15 minutes to 5 minutes, based on operational experience indicating that automated bidding requires significantly less time.
With the compression of RTM timelines, the schedule revision window for bilateral transactions is also proposed to be shortened, with revision of schedules ending 50 minutes before the delivery time block instead of the current 75 minutes. Together, these measures would reduce the overall scheduling timeline by 25 minutes.
Conclusion
As India moves towards a high renewable energy-based grid, reducing the time gap between schedule revision, market clearing and physical delivery is emerging as an operational necessity rather than merely a market reform. The proposed reduction in gate closure timelines from 75 minutes to 50 minutes is aimed at improving system flexibility, balancing efficiency and renewable energy integration, while bringing market operations closer to actual delivery conditions.
Under the proposed framework, power exchanges would continue to undertake market clearing and congestion management, while the NLDC would carry out ancillary service scheduling, SCUC/SCED and despatch optimisation within compressed timelines. According to the CERC, advances in automation, digital coordination systems, NOAR and system operation capabilities now make such tighter timelines operationally feasible.
The proposed framework is expected to improve the responsiveness of the RTM by enabling more accurate demand forecasting, better scheduling and improved balancing efficiency. It may also help reduce DSM-related exposure for market participants by allowing them to respond to changing system conditions closer to delivery. In addition, shorter scheduling timelines could support improved renewable energy integration and help minimise renewable energy curtailment.
At the same time, harmonising intra-state gate closure frameworks with interstate timelines will remain critical for effective implementation. The key challenge, therefore, lies not only in shortening gate closure windows, but in designing coordinated and layered operational timelines across jurisdictions, systems and processes.
Aastha Sharma
