Good southwest monsoon rains in September have placed the Kerala power scenario in a comfortable position.

A senior KSEB source told BusinessLine that as of Thursday, storage in the reservoirs of the hydro-electric projects stood at 67.22 per cent of their total capacity. With this 2,783 million units could be generated.

Higher than last year During the same period last year, the storage was around 60 per cent, enough to generate 2,205 mus, he said.

The current daily demand, he said, is at around 66 mus. To meet this requirement, 20.5 mus are generated from hydel projects. Balance is met by the Central share of 25.1 mus, under long-term purchase agreement of 17.3 mus and purchase from power exchange of 0.3 mus and1.6 mus becomes available from deviation, he said.

He said supply from coal-based power plants in Eastern India is temporarily affected by the reduction in coal availability due to rains in those States. “We are managing it without affecting the power supply here,” he said.

The KSEB, he said, is in a comfortable position and would totally avoid costly thermal power from NTPC Kayamkulam and BSES Ernakulalm, he said.

Board optimistic “We can manage even in the event of a weak northeast monsoon this year,” the official said.

He said the inadequate transmission corridor problem is also likely to be resolved by June next year when the Edamon-Kochi line is commissioned. Once this line become available, 900 MW (19.2 mus) of power could be brought in daily from outside the State, he said.

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