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Mony K. Mathew

Thiruvananthapuram , Dec. 8

THE tardy pace at which additional capacity is being added to Kerala's power generation table points to a drastic fall in power availability in the State by the end of the Tenth Plan.

Over the last two years, since the United Democratic Front (UDF) Government came to power, a measly 33 megawatts (MW) have been added to the State's installed capacity even as a host of hydel projects, both major and small, has been stuck in the pipeline for want of follow-up action.

As per the 16th annual power survey of the Central Electricity Authority, the demand will reach a level of 4,728 MW by 2006-07, the terminal year of the Tenth Plan. A study by the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), on the other hand, had projected a constrained load demand of 3,529 MW and an unconstrained load demand of 4,959 MW by that year.

The Tenth Plan committee on energy development of the State Planning Board has pointed out that based on a growth of 7.5 per cent witnessed in the past, the demand could be 3,574 MW by the end of the Plan period. This will again go up to around 3,800 MW if the projected demand of 200 MW from the IT sector, as envisaged in the policy, is also taken into account. However, the committee feels that the desirable level of power development could be pegged around 4,700 MW as laid out in the 16th Power Survey.

As against this, the installed capacity as on March 2002 was 3,089 MW, and the committee has concluded that an additional capacity of 900 MW will have to be put in place to meet the Tenth Plan demand, after allowing for availability from the existing and ongoing projects and the committed supply from outside projects.

It has also been pointed out that since the use of petroleum products for power generation is bound to escalate the per-unit cost, the emphasis should be on raising the proportion of hydel power in the supply mix.

The hydel projects that could be completed during the Plan period, as per the submission of KSEB itself, are Athirappally (163 MW), Kuttiady Additional Extension (100 MW), Neriamangalam Extension (25 MW) and Pallivasal Extension (60 MW). This will work out to total addition of 348 MW.

These projects apart, the board has listed out small hydro projects, such as Bhoothathankettu (16 MW), Ullungal (7 MW), Karikkayam (15 MW) and Barapole (9 MW), which could be commissioned during the Plan for a further capacity addition of 47 MW. These projects are to be implemented with private sector participation.

Even after these additions, a gap of nearly 500 MW is expected, which, the committee notes, could be filled by creating thermal capacity with private sector participation. But the power purchase agreements in this respect would need to be flexible enough to permit KSEB to fully absorb its hydel power.

Against this scenario, the actual realisation of the projections is very little, while the follow-up on the blueprints begs a quantum leap.

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