The Hindu Business Line : Kerala unlikely to face power shortage this summer

KERALA is unlikely to face any serious power shortage this summer as there is adequate water storage in the reservoirs of its hydro-electric projects to generate power at the current rate till the onset of south-west monsoon in the first week of June.

The hydel projects currently generate around 12.5 million units (MU) daily and with adequate water available, 754 MU could be generated, a senior official source told Business Line. While only 626 MU units could be produced with the storage in dams this time last year, he added.

"We have been operating the hydel stations with conservative water management," he said adding that as a result, despite the deficient monsoon last year, the water storage in the reservoirs could be maintained at the current level. The state's daily power demand is 37 million units and the contribution of the hydel projects is 12.5 MU while that of KSEB thermal stations is 3 MU, BSES Kerala Power Limited around 2.5 MU and NTPC's Kayamkulam plant 3 MU daily. The balance is drawn from the Central pool, he said.

Normally, 3 MU is drawn daily from the 350-MW Kayamkulam thermal plant. Due to faults in the transformers, the supply was suspended for over a fortnight this month and during this period the Board had to draw more power from the Central grid in addition to its quota of 16 MU daily, he said.

The plant has resumed operations from April 19 with 50 per cent of its capacity and the KSEB is drawing 2 MU from it. Still there is a shortfall of around 1 MU, he said. For the additional power from the central grid rate is higher based on the "frequency linked price", he said.

For the normal quota, the cost would be around Rs 2.10 per unit. But the variable cost alone per unit of electricity supplied by the Kayamkulam plant would come to about Rs 3.15, he said.

According to the official, power "from the central pool is the cheapest Kerala is getting". He said that existing hydel projects in the state were several decades old and hence needed renovation and modernisation. Once that was completed, the efficiency of these plants could be enhanced, he said. Besides, he said, with conservative water management, the projects could be operated efficiently throughout the year.

According to him, taking into account actual power demand, reserve for maintenance, spinning and breakdown, the installed generating capacity of the state was short by at least 450 MW. "To bridge this gap in installed generating capacity, huge investment is required," he said.

The existing thermal plants in the state including the NTPC's 350-MW Kayamkulam unit are operating on high cost Naphtha and as a result the generation cost in these plants was said to be over Rs 3.5 per unit.

Kerala used to receive on an average 3,000 mm of rainfall every year except in certain years. But the water received in the state flows down through the 44 rivers in the state into the backwaters or the sea in 48 hours. According to reports, 76,323 million cubic metres (MCM) of water were received in the state during the monsoons with a usable yield of 42,722 MCM. Whereas, the storage facility available with the state electricity board is only for 3,350 MCM.

Depletion of forest cover is also responsible for the fall in water flow into the reservoirs, the official said. Absence of mechanisms to conserve rainwater, which is received during both the monsoon seasons, could also be responsible for the fall in the ground water table. Measures to harness rainwater must be taken to tap the hydel potential fully, he said.

Given this scenario, it is becoming more and more relevant to go in for thermal plants using cheap fuel such as coal or LNG. If plants using Naphtha switch over to LNG, power could be made available at affordable cost, an energy expert pointed out. NTPC will be expanding its Kayamkulam unit to 2,300 MW from the present 350 MW in the next plan by changing the fuel to LNG.

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