THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Anyone looking for an example of the adage ‘best things come in small packages’ only needs to look at the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).
For, the small hydroelectric projects of the board numbering around 25 are fast turning out to be successful models for the state’s power producer. With hydel projects of 3.5, 2.5, 1.5 and 1.25 MWs generating power during the monsoon, KSEB’s return on investment (ROI) is also on the rise.
The 1.25 MW Peechi small hydroelectric project, which was commissioned five years ago, has generated one crore units of power till now, bringing in Rs 5 crore in revenue. Sources in the KSEB told Express the project was commissioned for Rs 11 crore and within five years, almost half of the investment had been recovered.
If there is proper rainfall, each small hydel project of 1.5 MW or above generates an average 40,000 units per day, while projects below 1.5 MW of capacity generate around 20,000 units of power. Though this won’t make much of a difference in a total capacity generation, it is still more environment-friendly, said officers.
Low maintenance cost
While the small hydel projects generate power which is automatically linked to power grids, the cost of maintaining them is minuscule. Generally, in a small hydel project, there would be an assistant engineer, a sub-engineer and an operator who would manage the project. On-shift duty, however, contract hands are employed reducing KSEB’s establishment cost as the contract employees are pressed into service only during the seasons when power is generated.
“Small hydel projects are giving KSEB the expected results. This has to be retained as they will break-even in the near future and are environmentally viable. The projects also have low establishment costs and KSEB does not have major recurring charges involved in the projects,” state president of KSEB Engineers’ Association N T Job told Express.
When the monsoon rain lashed the state last week, KSEB sold the power generated by small hydel projects the first time since last year’s flood.
Two-day sale of power generated a revenue of Rs 1.16 crore for KSEB. Though not a high figure, officials said the generation and selling of power generated by small projects were healthy signs.
Subsidies
All small hydel projects get nearly D1 crore per MW as subsidy from the Ministry of Renewable Energy. The total project cost in small hydel projects comes to D10 crore per MW. The ministry provides subsidy in four instalments based on the stages of construction and commissioning of the project.