The Hindu Business Line : KSEB hopes to save Rs 800 cr this year

WITH the blessings of rain gods and effective water management, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) could do without thermal power from last May. As a result, during the current water year (June-May), the Board will be making a saving of around Rs 800 crore.

A good southwest monsoon this year has placed the Board in a comfortable position with the water storage in all its hydroelectric projects remaining at nearly 70 per cent of their capacity, a senior KSEB official told Business Line on Tuesday.

With the current storage, 2,678 million units (Mu) of power could be generated. The official said that the water inflow from June onwards had been very good and it was enough to generate 3,808 Mu. In August alone, there was an inflow of water sufficient to generate 1,440 Mu, which is for the first time in the last ten years, he said.

The situation was bad during the last two years. "But, now the overall position is good," he said. A normal northeast monsoon in the coming months would strengthen the situation further.

Given the current comfortable position, the Board would be able to do with minimum thermal support. The current daily demand is 34 Mus.

The Hydel projects now generate 20 Mu and the balance 14 Mu is met by drawing its share of power from the central grid at less than Rs 2 a unit. During the peak hours in the evenings, the Board's diesel power plants are operated for two to three hours to generate 3.5 lakh units, he said.

Through effective water management - now and during the peak time in the summer - load shedding could be avoided, he said.

He said that Board was not drawing power from the National Thermal Power Corporation's (NTPC) Kayamkulam thermal plant from May 16. It has also stopped taking power from the BSES Kerala Power Ltd because of the high cost.

The Board had been drawing three Mu from its own diesel power generating units, 2.5 Mu from BSES Kerala Power Ltd and 3 Mu from the Kayamkulam plant.

Following the switching-off of all thermal plants, power drawn at present from within the State, is 20 Mu from the hydel projects. According to the official, power from the central pool is the cheapest Kerala is getting as it has to pay only around Rs 2 a unit.

He said that existing hydroelectric projects in the State are several decades old and hence renovation and modernisation are needed. Once that is completed, the efficiency of these plants could be enhanced.

Besides, he added, with conservative water management, the projects could be operated efficiently throughout the year.