NSE Gets SEBI’s Nod to Launch Electricity Futures

Markets Discussions
1

National Stock Exchange (NSE) has received regulatory approval from SEBI to launch monthly electricity futures contracts, marking a major step toward modernizing the country’s power markets. These contracts aim to offer utilities, power producers, and large consumers a tool to hedge against price volatility, enabling more accurate price signals across the power value chain — from generation to retail distribution.

This move positions NSE alongside the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), which secured a similar approval just a week earlier. While MCX has traditionally led in commodity derivatives, the NSE’s scale, reach, and infrastructure could pose serious competition, potentially diluting MCX’s early-mover advantage. As both exchanges gear up for launch, the key differentiator will lie in liquidity, product design, and participant engagement.

The timing of these approvals is critical. India’s distribution companies (discoms) currently struggle with $9.5 billion in unpaid dues, largely due to costly long-term PPAs and weak infrastructure. Futures contracts offer a compelling alternative — encouraging shorter, flexible procurement cycles, improved demand forecasting, and dynamic price planning through forward price curves. This could reshape how discoms buy and sell power, making them more financially agile.

Looking ahead, NSE plans to introduce contracts for difference (CFDs) and longer-duration contracts, building a full-fledged electricity derivatives ecosystem. For power producers, traders, and investors, this signals a fresh opportunity to participate in India’s energy transition — one where financial markets play a pivotal role in shaping how electricity is priced, procured, and consumed.

What does the future hold for energy distribution and consumption in India?

2

With EVs, ACs and a big population means our energy demand is only going to increase. For power generation we may tap into nuclear and renewable sources more and reduce dependence on coal based plants in the long run.

As for the latest global tech in distribution, it is this :point_down:

We have long been using radio waves for communication. Next revolution could be beaming power wirelessly and doing away with lossy and messy distribution lines.

1 Like
3

The vision is bold but it is not without limitations and caveats.

Efficiency Losses: Wireless transmission is inherently less efficient that wires. There’s a loss during conversion, AC - Microwave - AC again and beam divergences. The loss is ~50% which means, the power of 2 ACs is needed to power what a electricity line would to, just a single AC.

Line of Sight Requirement: It requires an unobstructed path and it can get affected by weather, birds, rain and even clothes hanging in your terrace.

Biological Risks: It does pose serious biological risks, if improperly shielded or misaligned which you won’t hear much about, for obvious reasons. For eg. Boeing.

High Setup Costs: Higher than wired infrastructure.

Low Reliability and Uptime with High Maintenance Costs: It would require consumers upwards of Rs.40/unit vs now Rs.8/unit, not mentioning the huge amount of resource wastage.

Interference with other Radio Waves: Radar systems, telecom systems, satellite beams, aircraft beams, everything is affected.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: IT IS NOT A PROVEN SYSTEM YET.

EMROD wants to say we should replace our reliable proven power grids, with invisible death rays shooting through the sky - just so that we won’t have to use wires?

That’s like saying we should use lasers to cook toast because walking to the toaster is incovenient. For now, it is just a tech fantasy if I’m looking through an investor’s lens.

1 Like
4

All disrupting tech begin with bold ideas. Before AC power distribution became the standard, DC power was being used. AC power was thought to be more unsafe than DC. There is a whole Edison - Tesla power war story from the past if you want to read about this.

Emrod has demonstrated beamforming efficiencies above 97%, with overall system efficiency targets above 80%. The company claims that with further improvements, efficiencies could approach 95–99%

Wired power still has a distribution loss of 17.6% national avg and at many places going above 25%

The microwave frequencies used by Emrod are largely unaffected by atmospheric conditions like rain or snow, ensuring reliable operation. Besides just like global data connectivity which is wired + wireless we may be able to establish a wired + wireless power delivery from source to destination which is significantly better than wires alone distirbution currently.

Emrod’s systems include object detection and automatic shutoff mechanisms to prevent accidental exposure to the energy beam, enhancing operational safety. But transmitting high-power microwaves does raise public concerns about exposure, especially if safety mechanisms fail or are bypassed.

Wireless transmission eliminates the need for extensive copper cabling, substations, and transmission towers, reducing both material costs and ongoing maintenance, especially in challenging terrain.

By reducing the need for physical infrastructure, Emrod’s technology can lower the environmental footprint associated with traditional power grids, such as land use and resource extraction

Wireless energy beams can keep electric vehicles, drones, satellites, and smart sensors charged and operational without the need for frequent stops or physical connections

Also, higher setup cost will come down with scale significantly, just like we are seeing with EV batteries and overall EV car costs for a certain capacity.

No significant interference when operating in different frequency bands. We already do this in radio communication.

While promising for certain use cases (remote grids, mobile platforms), Emrod’s technology is not yet practical for all high-power applications, such as widespread urban grid replacement or large-scale electric vehicle charging.

All tech takes time to evolve. But we can’t discard it. Radio communication took over a century to reach where it is now from the point where Jagadish Chandra Bose, Nikola Tesla and later Marconi demonstrated the tech with varying scales of implementation.

Modern AI itself has nearly a century of history to scale and reach where it is now from Turing to present day Generative AI and Large Language Models.

5

Besides, a completely different souce - distribution model is the Local generation and use model. Currently we have Solar, Wind or Diesel protable generators.

We could very well have local nuclear generators in future. Already we have

  • Betavolt BV100: A coin-sized nuclear battery using Nickel-63, capable of lasting up to 50 years, now in mass production for medical and aerospace electronics5.
  • Infinity Power’s Battery: A new design with over 60% efficiency, scalable from nanowatts to kilowatts, and capable of powering devices for over 100 years6.
  • Radiocarbon Betavoltaics: Prototypes using carbon-14, producing only beta rays, offer potentially millennia-long lifespans and improved safety.
1 Like
6

Hmm, I hear you and I get where you’re coming from — your points make sense. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore the risks staring us in the face.

As a public market investor, my instinct is to doubt first and trust only when proven. That’s not cynicism — that’s survival. There’s a reason why only a tiny fraction of public market investors consistently make money: they don’t just dream of the endgame like VCs do. They navigate every pitfall, every red flag, every “what if.”

And I say this with some hard-earned conviction — I’m not a venture capitalist. I don’t rely on fairy-tale finishes or last-minute winners. That mindset has been carved into me by years of experience and more than a few scars.

Yes, it’s tempting to root for the underdog, to believe in that final, dramatic turnaround. But in reality? That almost never plays out.

With EMROD, there are plenty of potential pitfalls — it can emerge from, potentially, shaky financials, corporate governance red flags, fraud risks, or stronger players waiting in the wings. So yes, I’m skeptical. I have to be.

In my world, everything is false until proven true. That’s not just how I think — it’s how I operate. Because in public markets, faith without proof isn’t optimism — it’s just expensive naivety.

1 Like
7

Yes, was reading about this sometime before. This one looks interesting and feasible.

1 Like
8

Westinghouse rooted with Tesla and we now have commercial AC power transmission, which changed the way we live.

image
image637×395 36.4 KB

But yes very true. Investment into pathbreaking tech is really for those who love it for what it is rather than on making much money from it. It can be expensive with a great chance of failure.

9

Back then, tech was barely 2% on the progress bar—nascent, raw, full of wild unknowns.
The runway for groundbreaking tech and breakthroughs was endless. You could build the future from scratch.

Now? The ground is breaking every day… and companies are falling into it.
Innovation feels like trench warfare—brutal, crowded, incremental.
The margins for truly groundbreaking moves? Razor-thin.
The costs? Skyhigh.

Side note: I’m just sitting here, waiting for my car to run on water like they promised a few years ago. Wasn’t that supposed to change everything?

10

We feel it is easy because it is there already. Every discovery has a similar story of vision, grit, determination, and perseverance amidst the many inevitable failures along the path.

Pani peeney wala car bhi aayega, flying car bhi aayega :slightly_smiling_face:

11

Until then, we’ll keep guzzling overpriced petrol and getting shocked by wired power. :smile:

Hmm, I have discovered how people lose money, so that I don’t do it. :wink:

1 Like