Sharp fluctuations in daily power demand raise crisis concerns in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala is experiencing major fluctuations in the daily demand for electricity, and the situation has led to uncertainty in the planning and distribution of power purchased from other sources. 

With the electricity authorities unable to predict the daily demand, the state is staring at a serious power crisis. Consumers will also be affected, as the fluctuations in power purchase will be passed on to them as a surcharge.

Meanwhile, the Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd. (KSEB) has initiated emergency measures to tackle the situation. In recent days, there has been a huge difference in the power consumption during daytime and nighttime. 

While the total demand across the state on the afternoon of March 21 was 3,436 megawatts, only 2,647 megawatts were consumed in the same period on March 22. Similar differences are experienced at night, also. As per the authorities, the availability of solar power during the daytime contributed significantly to the situation. However, KSEB officials said that they were yet to ascertain the reasons for the fluctuating demand at night.

KSEB regularly purchases power from external sources based on contracts signed earlier, following a directive from the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) to ensure sufficient power by evaluating the daily demand in advance. 

However, the KSEB will suffer losses if the daily power consumption does not reach the predicted levels, as the excess electricity received will have to be surrendered. At the same time, in case there is excess daily demand, the KSEB will have to purchase power at steep prices from the real-time market.