Kerala to impose power curbs of less than 30 minutes from 6pm to 12 midnight daily

Kerala is set to impose power curbs of less than 30 minutes between 6 pm and midnight to maintain grid stability amid a sharp surge in electricity demand during extreme heat.

The Chief Engineer of the State Load Despatch Centre has been authorised by a high-level meeting to implement the load shedding if required. A team of senior officials will review the situation daily.

The meeting, chaired by Additional Chief Secretary (Power) Puneet Kumar, was attended by KSEB Chairman and Managing Director Minhaj Alam, along with directors, chief engineers and other senior officials. It reviewed the unexpected rise in electricity consumption and the emerging shortage in the state.

Officials noted that while temperatures were forecast to reach 38 degrees Celsius, they rose to around 41 degrees, leading to a spike in power usage. Peak consumption touched an all-time high of 118.26 million units on Monday. Evening demand after 6 pm also hit a record 6,033 MW, briefly rising to 6,195 MW at 10.30 pm on April 23.

The meeting observed that power availability in the national market has declined significantly due to the heatwave affecting large parts of the country. Kerala, which depends on external sources for more than 70 per cent of its power, is particularly vulnerable. A shortfall of 200 MW from central generating stations is expected to be resolved by Tuesday.

The state began facing shortages from April 22 during peak demand. On April 21, swap deals for 200 MW each with Madhya Pradesh and Punjab expired. Under these arrangements, Kerala sourced power during summer and returned it during the monsoon. KSEB Limited has not entered into fresh swap agreements with other states, a lapse flagged by the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) on April 24.

As a result, Kerala lost 400 MW of supply from April 21. The deficit stood at 65 MW on April 22. On April 23, when peak demand touched a record 6,135 MW at 10.30 pm, the shortage rose to 292 MW. On April 24, with demand at 5,737 MW at 9.38 pm, the deficit was 101 MW. On April 25, when demand reached 5,795 MW at 10.29 pm, the shortfall surged to 438 MW.

Kerala has not experienced such shortages in the past three years.

To manage peak demand and maintain grid stability during evening hours (7 pm to 11 pm), KSEB has earlier relied on unannounced load shedding of 10–15 minutes across the state.

This summer, the average daily demand has risen to around 5,800 MW, about 800–1,000 MW higher than last year.

Kerala’s total hydropower capacity is 2,134 MW, but with reservoir levels dropping to around 30 per cent, KSEB has limited hydel generation. As a result, average internal generation from hydro, wind and solar sources stands at around 1,200 MW.

The remaining 4,600 MW—nearly 80 per cent of the state’s daily requirement—is sourced from outside. Of this, about 3,000 MW is secured from 15 central generating stations under long-term agreements, with tariffs ranging from ₹2 per unit at Talcher Super Thermal Power Station in Odisha to ₹4.50 per unit at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu.