The Hindu Business Line : Rs 200-cr monsoon bonanza for KSEB

As the monsoon has weakened in July, there is some anxiety. All the small hydel projects are operated round the clock now to avoid spillage from the reservoirs.

Kochi , July 13

ALMOST normal rainfall so far during the southwest monsoon this year coupled with the State Electricity Board's decision not to draw high-cost thermal power from mid-May onwards will help the Board to save an estimated Rs 200 crore till July 31.

The Board had drawn 315 million units from the thermal power plants in the State in June 2003 at over Rs 3 per unit. This year, it did not draw any power from this source in June. The saving in June alone came to around Rs 100 crore, senior official sources told Business Line on Tuesday.

They said the water storage in the reservoirs of the hydel projects stood at 44 per cent on July 13, with which 1,699 million units (mu) could be generated. Of this, the major hydel projects have storage enough to generate 1,595 mu.

However, as the monsoon has weakened in July, there is some anxiety, they said. The anticipated inflow of water from the catchment areas of the reservoirs in July should be enough to generate 550 mu, but so far with the inflow only 358 mu could be generated. "Suppose we get normal long term average rainfall in July the water inflow would be adequate to generate 1,419 mu," they said. In June, as against the anticipated inflow to generate 680 mu, it had gone up substantially to 1,400 mu. This would offset the shortfall in July, they said.

All the small hydel projects are compulsorily operated round the clock now to avoid spillage from the reservoirs. This helps to conserve storage in major reservoirs, they said. Through effective water management, the Board would be able to keep the high cost thermal power away and make substantial savings, they said.

The current daily demand of power after the 30-minute cyclical power cut was lifted from mid-June is 33 mu. To meet this, 16-17 mu are generated from the hydel projects. Besides, to supplement the peak-hour demand in the evenings the Board's own thermal units are operated for 2-3 hours to generate 0.5 mu, they said.

The rest of the requirement is met by drawing from the central grid, they said.

It seems that given the good water storage level in the reservoirs and its better management, the Board might not draw thermal power in the coming months also from the stations including NTPC's Kayamkulam plant. Under the agreement with NTPC, the Board has to meet the fixed cost even if it does not draw the power.

NTPC is understood to be holding a review meeting to discuss these issues and to explore different packages.

Normal long-term average rainfall in Kerala seems to have become a cause for concern for the thermal power operators in the state as it has been proved now that through effective water management the state could avoid drawing high cost power. It could also supplement the daily demand by drawing cheap power from the central grid.

Kerala used to receive on an average 3,000 mm of copious rainfall every year except in certain years. But the entire water received in the state flows down through the 44 rivers in the state to the backwaters or the sea in 48 hours. Therefore, measures needed to be taken to tap the hydel potential fully, they pointed out.

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