THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the southwest monsoon turning on the taps in full force over Kerala, internal power generation has touched 40 million units (MU) a day, the highest in recent years. Compare this with the rain-starved summer months when the KSEB goes into frantic conservation mode at its hydel reservoirs, with internal generation is locked at 8-10 MU daily.
On July 27, Friday, power consumption in the state stood at 64 MU of which 40.15 MU was generated internally from hydel and other sources.
With most of the hydel reservoirs full or approaching the limit, hydropower alone contributed 38.35 MU of the total internal generation on Friday. This has also helped the KSEB to cut down on power imports. Generally, the state depends on power purchases from the central generating stations (CGU) and traders to meet 60-70 per cent of its power needs.
Meanwhile, the hydel dams, on Sunday, have enough water to generate 3,722 MU, which is also a record in recent years, though it is not an all-time record for the KSEB. Last year, storage had stood at 1,039 MU on the same day.
‘’This, however, is the highest water level ever recorded in July. Usually, in a good year, the storage achieves this level during September-October, during the northeast monsoon,’’ said S R Anand, Deputy Chief Engineer, State Load Despatch Centre (Grid).
The Idukki dam, which has grabbed headlines for its high water levels this monsoon has stored water upto 2402.7 feet, but it occurred at a point when the monsoon rainfall was tapering off. This year, the water levels are already high when a lot more of the monsoon remains.