Timely arrival of the monsoon with good downpour in recent days has alleviated the power crisis in Kerala.
With the water flowed in so far, 500 millions units of power can be generated, a senior KSEB official said on Thursday.
All the small hydel units such as Lower Periyar, Kuttiyadi, Pallivasal, Panniyar projects where possibility of spilling over is common are operating 24 hours. Thus, 13 mus are generated daily from these units at present. The major projects are now generating about 5 mus only.
The daily demand for power has also dropped to an average of 48 mus from over 60 mus. To meet the current demand, 22 mus are drawn from the Central grid. The balance is bought from open market at the rate of around Rs 2 per unit.
Power purchase pact
With a view to alleviating the power crisis in the summer months ahead, the Board has made arrangements to purchase power on an annual basis through tender from western India, the official said. The supplier will have a commitment to supply till May next year. The average cost would work out to around Rs 4.10 per unit. He said permission of the regulatory commission has already been taken.
“We have already demanded a supply of 300 MW and that would be raised to 600 MW from November onwards,” he said.
If the current trend of monsoon and the availability of cheap power from other sources continued to exist “we may not have to draw the high cost power from the NTPC Kayamkulam and the BSES units this year,” the official said.
However, the KDPP of the Board will be operated during the peak hours to support the supply to the Malabar region, he said.
The transmission corridor problem may be partially resolved when one of the lines currently under construction is commissioned as scheduled before the year-end, he added.