Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEBL) is taking all possible steps to tide over the power crisis being faced by the State.
Steps have been taken to get 200 megawatt (MW) of power from the marketing firm, Creet Energy Solutions, through the bank swap order.
The Board is also planning to bring Naphtha from the oilk refinery in Bina in Madhya Pradesh to the Kayamkulam Thermal Power Station so as to restart power generation there.
The Kozhikode Diesel Station has been made functional and 90 MW of power is currently being generated there.
Before the advent of the power crisis, the KSEB had made an attempt to cancel the long-term power purchase agreements signed for buying 465 MW of power. The move was to cancel two purchase power agreements signed for 25 years for 115 MW for Rs 4.15 per unit and 350 MW for Rs 4.29 per unit, alleging exorbitant prices and irregularities.
The power deficit for the KSEB due to the national-level coal crisis comes to only around 78 MW.
The real reason for the present crisis is the unusual increase in the power consumption. The Chief Engineer (Systems Operations) had warned of such a scenario during last November itself. He had sought effective steps for dealing with such a crisis.
The KSEB has now made it clear that it will soon complete the tendering process for procuring 100 MW of power through battery energy storage system to overcome the crisis during the peak time.
Currently, the State is facing a shortage in power generation to the tune of 120 MW power due to the technical snag in the Sabarigiri project which is yet to be repaired.
Only 30 per cent of the total consumption in the State is met from the power generated from hydro-electric projects. The water availability in dams in the State is only 36 per cent of the total capacity of all the dams taken together.
On Thursday, the power consumption reached a record level of 9.29 crore units. On Friday, it came down to 9.09 crore units. Power generated through hydro-electric methods touched 3.05 crore units.
Rooftop solar project
There had been acute scarcity for solar modules, consisting of panels and meters, meant for the rooftop solar project until two weeks ago.
Now, there is a stock of 2,000 meters for the rooftop project, which began two years ago. It is expected that the KSEB will get another 10,000 meters by Wednesday.
Through the KSEB's e-kiran portal, around 70,000 customers have applied for permission for erecting solar plants.
After the completion of the inspection, necessary permission for the erection of the solar plants will be accorded. The last date for the submission of application for subsidy is on June 24.
