KOCHI: As summer peaks and mercury crosses the 40-degrees Celsius mark in several parts of the state, the KSEB is facing a tough situation, with peak-hour power consumption shattering previous records. On April 14, the daily power consumption reached 112.161 million units while the peak-hour demand touched 6,012 MW, the highest ever in the state.
While consumers in certain rural areas have complained of unscheduled load shedding, the state electricity board has clarified that there is no need to impose load shedding to manage peak demand this year. However, the board said certain load restrictions are imposed to handle transmission system constraints in some areas.
“These curbs are not meant to manage the peak load. There is no specific discrimination in rural or urban areas. The reason for such restrictions is transmission line limitations,” said a top official.
Traditionally, the KSEB considers the hours between 6.30pm and 10.30pm as the peak hour period, when domestic consumption peaks. However, during summer, the peak hour period often extends until 2am due to the spike in use of air conditioners. This year, peak-time demand crossed 5,000 MW in the first week of March and has remained above 5,500 MW over the past three weeks.
Despite the unprecedented surge in demand, there have been no frequent outages, voltage fluctuations or incidents of transformers blowing up this time.
In the summer of 2024, the KSEB faced a crisis as hundreds of distribution transformers blew up due to power surge. However, the board said no such incident has been reported this season as the distribution network has been revamped.
“In 2024, we issued an order to procure 1,700 transformers from the Kerala Electrical & Allied Engineering Co Ltd. They were unable to supply the transformers on time, and we were struggling to replace the damaged transformers,” said an official.
‘2,400 transformers procured in 2025’
“In 2025, we procured 2,400 transformers, and now the network can carry up to 13,000 MW,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the power situation in the Malabar region remains precarious as projects to enhance grid stability have been delayed due to public protests over compensation packages. The `1,000-crore Udupi-Karinthalam-Wayanad 400KV power line project, launched four years ago, is yet to be completed. Once the project is completed, issues like frequent outages and voltage fluctuations will be solved.
“The Udupi-Kasaragod line extends over 115 km, and there are 266 towers on the stretch. Of these, only 15 towers need to be completed. The project will be completed by October 2026,” said an officer.
“The total distance of the Kasaragod-Wayanad 400 KV double circuit transmission line is 125 km long. Of the 360 towers, 120 have been completed. The project is being implemented by L and T Ltd. We held around 20 meetings in Kannur to address the issues raised by the protesters in Kannur. A Government Order has been issued, fixing the compensation, and the works have been expedited. We are confident of completing the project by December 2026. The land owners will get 340% of the fair price of the land as compensation,” he said.
Power purchase as on April 14
Allocation from central generating stations: 1,866 MW
Long-term agreements: 553 MW
Renewable energy sources: 20 MW
Medium-term agreement: 47 MW
SWAP advance (banking): 694 MW
SWAP return (banking): 248 MW
DEEP (Short-term purchase): 574 MW
Day ahead market: 0 MW
Real time market: 101 MW
Open access consumers: 11.7 MW
Internal generation: 1,768 MW