New Delhi: The govt is set to launch a facility that will allow consumers to directly buy and sell electricity among themselves, with the amount adjusted in their monthly power bills.Peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading under the India Energy Stack (IES) will enable electricity consumers and prosumers — consumers who also generate power through renewable sources such as rooftop solar — to trade surplus renewable energy directly with other consumers, including across state boundaries. The transactions will be facilitated through a trust-based digital framework to ensure a secure, verifiable and scalable P2P energy network.While the buyer will need a smart electricity meter, the seller must have a rooftop solar plant and a net meter to trade surplus energy. The two parties will be able to negotiate prices through a mobile application and complete the transaction. Officials said consumers will continue to receive their regular electricity bills and P2P energy trades will be reflected as cumulative adjustments within the discom billing system for both buyers and sellers. They added that the system will help prosumers easily sell surplus electricity, while buyers will get power at rates cheaper than those charged by distribution companies.P2P trading is part of the IES being developed by REC Limited and is likely to be launched during the IndiaAI Summit later this month. Initially, consumers in south, southwest, west, north and northwest Delhi, and parts of western Uttar Pradesh, will be able to trade electricity as the facility will be rolled out by three distribution companies — BSES Rajdhani Power Limited, Tata Power-Delhi Distribution Limited and Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited. Eventually, all discoms are expected to offer the facility.The three utilities together have about 1.25 crore consumers, but the pilot will begin with around 1,000 consumers in each discom area. PVVNL managing director Raveesh Gupta said consumers from varied backgrounds are being identified for the pilot. “Our teams are talking to farmers, small businessmen and domestic users to onboard them for P2P energy trading,” Gupta said.Sources said similar P2P energy trading models are already operational in parts of Europe and Australia, where regulated local energy markets allow consumer-to-consumer trading of renewable power. India currently has an installed power capacity of 513.7 GW, including 266.8 GW of non-fossil energy. Solar comprises 135.8 GW of installed capacity. The govt has set a target of achieving 500 GW of non-fossil energy by 2030. Under the Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Yojana, launched in Feb 2024, over 20.8 lakh rooftop solar systems have been installed, benefitting more than 26.1 lakh households.A Tata Power-DDL spokesperson said consumers and prosumers will be onboarded through digital platforms for registering and operating trades. “Customers will have to download one of the applications developed by trading platform service providers as per their preference. Details regarding user interfaces, including whether a dedicated app or web-based access will be shared at the time of onboarding by the respective discoms,” the spokesperson said.While prosumers will get an opportunity to monetise excess solar generation and earn additional income, consumers will benefit from access to greener electricity, often at competitive prices. All transactions will be carried out digitally under a discom-supported framework ensuring transparency, reliability and consumer protection.REC executive director Prince Dhawan said the trading platform will ensure secure matching, accounting and settlement of transactions, while discoms will continue providing smart-meter data, grid management and consumer services. “The platform will read data from a central ledger where the discom will upload actual consumption and export, and then settle the final transaction between peers. Some trading platforms will also have inbuilt AI agents to help customers in the trading process,” Dhawan said.“As per regulatory approvals, discoms can apply wheeling and transmission charges directly in the bills since they can also read the ledger. The platform will display those charges upfront to consumers,” he added.A key feature of the initiative is the use of a ‘Verified Credential’ (VC), which acts as a secure digital identity for both consumers and prosumers. The VC confirms that the participant is a genuine discom customer with verified metering and eligibility, enabling safe participation in P2P energy trading while ensuring system integrity and consumer protection.
