The Renewable Energy Certificate trading session of December 27 at the India Energy Exchange (IEX) saw a record high number of non-solar certificates being traded.

According to a company statement, that the trade of non-solar RECs touched a record high of 32.39 lakh transactions. “At a price of ₹1,500 per certificate, the trade is worth nearly ₹485.85 crore,” a company official told BusinessLine.

Comparably, in December 2016, 15 lakh non-solar RECs were traded, according to the company website.

REC is aimed at easing the purchase of renewable energy by the state utilities and obligated entities, including the states which are not well endowed with renewable energy sources. One REC (Renewable Energy Certificate) represents 1 MWh of energy generated from renewable sources. The certificates continue to be traded at a flat price due to an over supply in the market, the official added.

According to an IEX statement, there were 70,27,931 sell bids and 32,39,142 buy bids during the trading session. An IEX statement said: “The trade in this session saw an increase of 71 per cent over November 2017 when 18,89,982 non-solar RECs were traded.”

In April 2017, the Supreme Court had put a stay on trading in both solar and non-solar RECs. The stay was vacated for non-solar REC and the trading started in July 2017, whereas solar REC trading continues to be under stay, the IEX statement added.

During April-December 2017, 66.78 lakh non-solar RECs were traded. Comparably, during the April-December 2016 period, 15.77 lakh non-solar RECs were traded.