THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A weak southwest monsoon in the past few weeks has prompted the KSEB to go for 10 -15 minutes of power cuts between 10 pm and 12 noon in rural areas of the state. This was necessitated after the KSEB experienced a shortfall of 180 mw power from Maithon power station in Jharkhand since Tuesday and another 100 mw power from Koodankulam power plant.
When such a hiccup happens, normally the KSEB purchases power realtime at exorbitant prices. But this may not be feasible always and the Board was forced to enforce power cuts to bring down consumption.
The board’s calculation on southwest monsoon failed when rain receded after a brief active spell. During this time, power consumption also went up much to the disappointment of the KSEB. To make matters worse, one of the generators went kaput at Maithon power station in Jharkhand which saw a deficit of 180 MW power. The board took a decision to alert the consumers that power failure will occur across the state from 10pm to noon for 10 -15 minutes. But major cities were spared from powercuts and people living in rural areas are forced to bear the brunt of the situation. A top KSEB official told TNIE that there was a shortage of 100 mw power from Koodankulam and another 180 mw from Maithon.
“The issue has been resolved. We will be able to know whether power will be available only one-and-a-half hours prior to the available slot. The board would have applied for allocation of power in advance. We might get power in different slots ranging from 30 minutes to one hour until 10 pm at different rates - at Rs 2 during daytime and Rs 10 after 10 pm. Power generation came down as southwest monsoon played spoilsport,” said a top board official.
The board has also completed the swap arrangement with Punjab Power Corporation to avail 200 MW of power. The generator issue at Maithon plant has not been fully resolved yet. If the KSEB is unable to get the allotted 180 mw from Jharkhand, the next step is to procure power realtime which may not be available readily from power exchange. A senior official told TNIE that power may not be available on the spot from the power exchange. The shortage has not been fully resolved, he said.
“Fortunately the southwest monsoon is getting stronger which would help the board to address the deficit now,” said the senior board official.
