The Hindu Business Line : KSEB supplies hydel power to NTPC Vidyut

THE Kerala State Elelctricity Board (KSEB) in order to utilise its water resources productively during the copious monsoon season has started supplying hydel power to the NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN) for distribution in north India.

Though the KSEB had agreed to supply 150 MW of power daily as required by the company, due to the congestion in Northern and Western corridors, the Board could not supply the power in full quantity, official sources told Business Line. The Board started supplying power from last August at Rs 2.67 a unit.

High storage levels in the major reservoirs, which were almost full while the small reservoirs were spilling over, prompted the Board to generate more power in recent weeks. Still the storage level in Idukki and Sabarigiri projects are 95 and 98 per cent of its capacity. At present, the dydel power generation has been stepped up to 26 million units daily as against the daily demand of 35.09 million units. The rest of the demand is met by drawing from the Central grid, which is less than 60 per cent of the State's share. However, to meet the demand during the peak hours, the Board's two diesel power-generating units at Brahmapuram near here and Kozhikode would be operated, the sources said. Thus, the Board would be easily able to surrender all the other high-cost power, they claimed.

During the current water year starting from June, the water storage in the reservoirs had reached the level enough to generate 5,942 million units as against 4,094 million units last year, they said.

If the State received the normal North East monsoon also in the coming months with that the State would have enough storage to generate power till May next, which would include the power supply commitment to the NVVN, they said. Given the comfortable situation this year, the Board, they said, would not have to draw power from the major thermal power stations of the NTPC at Kayamkulam and BSES this year also.

The cost of thermal power has gone up by about 16 per cent following high excise duty on Naphtha. According to him, the variable cost for generating one unit of power by the NTPC's Kayamkulam Thermal Power plant would now come to Rs 4.75. In addition, the State Government has to pay Rs 9 crore a month to the NTPC towards fixed cost even if the State does not draw any power from the plant.

The annual demand is projected at 13,000 million units and of this, up to 7,000 million units could be generated by hydel projects and the balance drawn from central grid, they said.

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