Lack of transmission lines to leave Kerala in the dark

The power situation in Kerala is comfortable so far this year, thanks to the good summer and monsoon rains in the hydro-electric project areas and the more than normal inflow into the reservoirs, according to senior Kerala State Electricity Board sources.

“If the current trend continues, the State would be comfortably placed this year also. The water level at present is nearly 35 per cent of the combined capacity of all the reservoirs with which 1,500 million units (mus) could be generated. The water storage level compared to last year is higher by 500 mus,” sources told Business Line .

Ever since the onset of the southwest monsoon, the power consumption per day has dropped to an average of 48 mus, they said.

The major problems encountered by the Board are not the availability of power which could be bought from the open market, but the absence of adequate transmission lines to evacuate power from other supply sources outside the State, and second, the non-availability of enough line staff and workers.

The power crisis in the State's northern region could be resolved to a great extent when the supply from the Kaiga project in Karnataka is through. The objection raised by the planters in the Madikeri region of that State against the construction of transmission lines has been disrupting it. Consequently, commissioning of the line from Mysore to Areekode (Kozhikode) is being delayed inordinately.

Almost a similar situation exists in the case of the new transmission line from Koodankulam thermal plant in Tamil Nadu. This line has been completed up to Edamon and the section from there to Kochi has been blocked by farmers raising various objections. If this line is commissioned, it could be used for lifting power from other supply sources in the event of contingencies and avoid power shedding. There was a fire accident in one of the blocks in the Moolamattom power generating unit of the Major Idukki hydro-electric project early this week, and the Board had to resort to power shedding in the absence of alternative power evacuation facilities, they said.

“The inter-State lines to evacuate power from other States are needed at the peak demand period which is about 3,000 MW. Where as, the capacity of inter-State feeder lines is 1,000 MW only,” they said. The Koodankulam-Kochi feeder line which has been completed up to Thenmala in Kerala's Kollam district from Tamil Nadu, if completed, would help evacuate power from other sources to the State even now.

Staff crisis

Non-availability of adequate staff to man the system has made uninterrupted supply of power impossible in rural areas.

For instance, linemen strength in Adoor section in Pathanamthitta district covering a municipality and a number of panchayats with over 26,000 consumers, is just 13 and the active strength often comes to 9, engineers in the section pointed out. In fact, the rule provides one lineman for every 1,000 consumers. Certain areas under its jurisdiction are 10 kms away from the section office. The entire area is under rubber cultivation and in most of the areas, the trees touch the lines. Repeated power supply disruption after the onset of the monsoon becomes a regular phenomenon and timely rectification becomes difficult , they said. The section has four electricity workers from the open market. But, their availability is also a problem, as young men in Kerala do not prefer to do this job, they said.

Revenue

The section has a monthly revenue of about Rs 1.10 crore, and yet it does not have the adequate infrastructure facilities.

A 110/66 KV transformer has become defective for the past four months. For making the power supply scenario more effective and reliable, there have been proposals to bifurcate the Adoor section by setting up section offices in Enathu and Kodumon. But, it continues to remain a non-starter.

“When we are not able to provide uninterrupted power, leave aside stabilised power, to the existing consumers continuously for 24 hours, talking about providing additional 50,000 connections and so on will turn out to be farce,” a senior bureaucrat ridiculed.