Solar power generation rises, but Keralam struggles to store surplus electricity due to battery shortage
Keralam's power crisis worsened due to solar rooftop planning flaws, notably absent battery storage. Surging prosumers and unchecked peak-hour consumption forced load-shedding, despite approvals for new storage facilities like Mulleria.
Keralam's power crisis worsened due to solar rooftop planning flaws, notably absent battery storage. Surging prosumers and unchecked peak-hour consumption forced load-shedding, despite approvals for new storage facilities like Mulleria.
Keralam's power crisis worsened due to solar rooftop planning flaws, notably absent battery storage. Surging prosumers and unchecked peak-hour consumption forced load-shedding, despite approvals for new storage facilities like Mulleria.
Thiruvananthapuram: The government believes planning flaws in implementing the rooftop solar power scheme have also played a major role in aggravating the power crisis in Keralam. The state generates an average of 5.95 million units of solar electricity every day. However, without adequate storage facilities, the power must be consumed entirely during daylight hours.
Although approval has been granted to set up Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) at six locations, the facility has been completed only at Mulleria in Kasaragod. The BESS projects at Areekode are expected to be completed by January, while those at Mayilatti, Sreekandapuram and Pothencode may be ready by March. Another facility will be set up at Brahmapuram.
NTPC also has plans to establish a BESS facility at the Kayamkulam thermal power station. However, unless community-level battery storage systems and other local storage facilities become operational, the power crisis could worsen in the near future.
The number of solar power prosumers in the state has more than doubled, rising from 1.5 lakh as of March 31, 2025, to 3.62 lakh now.
Under the net metering system, consumers who feed electricity generated during the day into the grid can draw an equivalent amount of power from it. As a result, electricity bills are negligible for most prosumers. The KSEB believes that this has led many consumers to pay little attention to restricting their use of electrical appliances during peak hours, contributing to a sharp rise in power demand.
Solar prosumers and power consumption increases
Figures indicate a significant rise in the state's electricity demand alongside the growth in the number of solar prosumers.
Average daily power consumption rose from 76.23 million units in July 2025 to 86.71 million units in July 2026, an increase of more than 10 million units. Peak-hour demand also surged. The maximum demand during peak hours in September rose from 4,480 MW in 2025 to 5,639 MW in 2026, an increase of 1,159 MW.
With adequate power unavailable to meet the rising demand, the situation was managed by imposing load-shedding to control peak loads.