THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The KSEBL on Thursday enforced a 15-minute power cut during peak hours for two days in the state. The decision was taken in the wake of the nationwide coal crisis hitting the availability of electricity from the central pool. Cities, hospitals and essential services have been exempted from the power cut on Thursday and Friday between 6.30pm and 11.30pm, KSEBL said.
The demand for power has gone up due to sweltering summer heat at a time when thermal power generation in the country has come down in the wake of the coal crisis, the board said. There is a shortage of 10.7GW of power in the country and the state faced a deficiency of 400MW to 500MW per day. The KSEBL urged consumers to help bring down consumption.
KSEBL said it has drawn up plans to resolve the crisis within two days by procuring 200MW of power from Andhra Pradesh and making operational the Nallalam diesel power plant in Kozhikode. Power Minister K Krishnankutty said the state needs 4,580MW during peak hours daily. “Maithon Power Station, Jharkhand has informed there would be a shortage of 135MW in supply.
KSEB expects 500MW deficiency during peak hours
“Maithon Power Station, Jharkhand said there would be a shortage of 135MW in supply. KSEB expects a 400MW-500MW deficiency during peak hours and has hence enforced power restriction,” he said. Currently, 14 states are facing power cuts lasting for an hour. There are reports that a few north Indian
states have gone for seven-hour unannounced power cuts.
Hospitals exempted
Cities, hospitals and essential services have been exempted from the power cut on Thursday and Friday between 6.30pm and 11.30pm
14 states are facing power cuts currently