There was no load shedding or power restriction in the state till May. What’s the reason for the unscheduled power cuts being imposed in recent days?
Keralam’s average power demand during peak hours ranges around 4,000 MW during monsoon season. This time, we have El Nino, which has led to a decline in rainfall, prolonged dry spell, and an unusual rise in temperature. The peak-hour demand rose to 4,800-5,000 MW from June.
Our main source for internal power generation is hydel projects and the maximum generation capacity is 1,750 MW. We get around 1,500 MW power from the central grid. We have engaged with generation companies for the purchase of 630 MW power through long-term agreements. So the assured power available for Keralam is 4,000 MW. But the demand hovers around 4,500 MW. El Nino was announced on June 13.
But El Nino was there in 2023 and 2018 too. Similarly, there were years when the state got very little rain. But we managed the situation without power regulation. Why now?
The average power consumption during monsoon season in 2023-24 was only 3,900 MW. Now the demand has touched 5,200 MW. If the situation was similar, I would have managed without imposing regulations.
It is a known fact that power consumption increases every year. Why was there no plan anticipating this increase?
That’s because of the inability to increase internal generation capacity. Other states have their own resources to generate power. This is a peculiar situation where our demand is high but we don’t generate power. Andhra Pradesh purchases only 14% of the demand from outside while we depend on outside resources for 77 to 78% of the power requirement.
The peak-hour power consumption on April 20, 2026, was 6,033 MW. There was no regulation then. Why have we failed to manage the rise in demand now?
Even if the demand rises to 9,000, we can manage if power is available on the grid. But now there is a shortage of power at the national level.
Did the previous government purchase power in advance through the SWAP arrangement during summer last year?
The KSEB receives additional power from other states during summer and returns it during the monsoon as the consumption will be low during the rainy season.
During summer, the demand will be high in Kerala while it will be cooler in the northern states. But this time, the monsoon failed and we have high consumption. Still, we have to return power. On September 8, we returned 344 MW. This happens when we have a deficit of 1,000 MW.
Does that mean the SWAP arrangement is the reason for this crisis?
No, we benefited from the SWAP arrangement during summer.
What’s the power situation in other states?
At present, Keralam is the only state completely dependent on external power. Our internal generation is only 22%. Andhra Pradesh generates around 86% of their demand while the internal generation of Karnataka is 68%. They have thermal plants, hydel projects, etc. Tamil Nadu has nuclear power projects too.
What’s the solution to tide over the crisis?
There is no other solution but to improve internal generation. We opened the first phase of the Idukki power project in 1976 and the second phase in 1986. We didn’t have a major project after that. I’m not referring to environmental concerns. Keralam hasn’t had a major power generation project after Idukki. We had only some 25 MW or 100 MW projects in between. We can depend only on hydel projects as we have decided to avoid thermal projects.
The ongoing power cuts started the very month the new government took over. Hence, it has acquired a political angle…
My son told me that power regulations were imposed when I took charge as the CMD of KSEB. I told him that, unfortunately, I assumed office during a crisis. That is a fact. Last year, we purchased 1,666 million units of power. This was done at a time when we had enough storage in our dams and the state received copious rain. We generated additional power during daytime, which was sold to other states through the SWAP arrangement. We spent Rs 660 crore on the purchase of power. This year, we have purchased power worth Rs 800 crore till date. As we spend more on power purchase, it will reflect in the power bills.
There should be a way to overcome this crisis…
We don’t have a magic wand to solve the crisis. The average time frame to complete a medium power project with an installed capacity of 25 MW is 6 to 8 years. The gestation period for a big project is a minimum of 10 years. Even if the project is readily available, we need 10 years to complete. The only option is alternative resources. I cannot decide on implementing a nuclear project as it needs a policy decision from the government.
The current crisis has been triggered by the lavish use of power by solar consumers...
We don’t have a scientific study on the lavish use of power by solar consumers. But the consumer may not be aware of the actual use of power.
How are you planning to address this particular angle?
We need a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). If the solar consumer is able to store the additional power generated during daytime, it will help them meet the demand during night hours. For that, we have proposed a community-level and substation-level Battery Energy Storage System.
BESS is a medium-term solution. What’s the vision for the future?
We are planning to implement pumped storage projects (PSP) to meet the future demand. Under the scheme, water released after generation of power is pumped back to the reservoir using cheap power available during daytime. At night, this water is used to generate more power. So we can generate more power during the night using the existing storage. We may get power at a rate of Rs 1 during daytime. That means we can generate 1,580 MW instead of 780 MW from the Idukki project. But we need at least 8 to 10 years to complete a pumped storage project.
KSEB has been discussing pumped storage projects for the past five years. We haven’t been able to prepare a detailed project report for that. What’s the reason for this delay?
The DPR for Idukki is ready.
But getting environmental clearance for such projects is a time-consuming process…
When we say KSEB takes eight years to implement a project, it doesn’t mean that the board has been sitting idle for eight years. There are many issues. Most of the reservoirs are located in reserve forest areas. To get permission to cut down a tree, we have to submit an application on the Parivesh portal. The process for obtaining permission is long-drawn. For example, we started the Sengulam project in 2009. It has been 18 years. We have to provide compensation to the local residents for the construction of the tunnel. There are unexpected hurdles.
Do you see any possibility for more hydel projects in Keralam?
There is immense possibility for new projects in Keralam. For example, we have completed the study for the Athirappilly hydel project but we need a policy decision from the government. We can only conduct feasibility studies. It is for the government to decide whether we have to go ahead with the project or not.
Tamil Nadu has been able to implement new hydel projects using water drawn from our state. For example, they are implementing new projects using water from Parambikulam Aliyar and Mullaperiyar. Do you think a lack of policy decisions is the reason behind the delay in our projects?
All these projects have different contexts. Keralam has immense potential, but there are challenges too. We cannot implement wind projects. Availability of land is an issue. We have potential for solar projects, but we need to install a battery storage system. We need a policy decision to decide on the projects we need to implement.
What’s the scope for a nuclear power project like Koodankulam?
As of today, there is no nuclear project in the state. Keralam is an environmentally sensitive state. Any project has its own environmental impact. We have to balance development with environmental protection. The question is how much we can compromise and that question needs to be addressed by a policy.
Do you think environmental activism is hampering the efforts to tap resources?
I will not use the word activism. Keralam is known as God’s Own Country because our forefathers gave importance to environment protection. We cannot say that something is good or bad. The government will take a decision according to the public mandate.
There’s an argument that the power crisis could have been averted had we implemented the Silent Valley project. What do you think?
There is no meaning in discussing what would have happened had we taken a different decision in the past. We cannot conduct a postmortem of any policy. The government makes a decision based on the public mandate of that particular period. We have to make the right decision for the future.
The Power Regulatory Commission had given a suggestion that generation should be shifted to the night. Can you explain the rationale behind that?
I’m surprised that the regulatory commission has raised such a question. I think it is irrelevant as you are not doing it. We are not generating power during daytime. We are generating 1,750 MW power during the night. And if we don’t generate power during daytime, our generation capacity will not increase.
Are we generating the maximum power from our hydel projects now?
On September 8, the generation was 1,740 MW, and our full capacity is 1,748 MW.
There was a proposal to impose a fuel surcharge. What’s the decision?
We impose charges after obtaining clearance from the regulatory commission. We will take a decision according to the direction of the commission.
Is there any fresh proposal for a long-term power purchase agreement?
We always exploit the possibilities of purchasing power. Recently, we considered a proposal to purchase power during peak hours at Rs 6 per unit. It is to purchase 300 MW for a period of 25 years. We agreed and the proposal has to go before the regulatory commission. We don’t need power during daytime and we are actually surrendering power.
Can we store power purchased during daytime?
There is no facility to store power. Sometimes, we get free power during daytime, which means less than Rs 1 per unit. If we have BESS, we can purchase cheap power and store it for use during peak hour. All states are implementing battery storage systems.
We had power cuts in the past too. But there was a time schedule. Now power is going without any notice and this has put consumers in big trouble…
There’s a technical problem. It is not a power cut. There’s a policy that power distribution cannot be disrupted for more than 30 minutes. That’s why we regulate power for 25 minutes. If there is a shortage of 1,000 MW, and we are unable to purchase power to bridge the gap, we have to regulate. There are 3,000 feeders in the state and the effective feeders come to around 2,000. I have to switch off 500 feeders for 25 minutes.
After that, I have to switch off another 500 feeders. If the load reduces to 4,500 MW, there is no need to switch off further. If the load remains high, I have to cut power to maintain the grid. That is why I have to regulate power multiple times.
This cannot be scheduled in advance as the regulation is needed only if the load exceeds the limit. This makes it unpredictable. We can understand the situation only in a 15-minute slot. In the last meeting, the minister told us to create a system to alert consumers.
You are also the secretary for devaswom. There’s a tussle between the Travancore Devaswom Board and the government. Will it affect the preparations for the Mandala Makaravilakku season at Sabarimala?
Devaswoms are autonomous bodies. There are rules and regulations. There is no tussle. The government and the boards are functioning according to the rules. If there are some flaws, we flag it; and one of them is the Milma ghee issue. When we got to know about the issue, we informed the board.
You are known to be an officer with big ideas. Have heard that Ayyappa Sangamam was your idea. Is it true?
(Laughs out) I have no connection with Ayyappa Sangamam. I was the devaswom secretary at the time. It was a government decision to invite ministers of other states and I just accompanied the minister (V N Vasavan) to Chennai to invite (the then) Tamil Nadu chief minister Stalin.
Ayyappa Sangamam was not organised by the government. Then why should a government secretary go?
The board is an entity of the government. Do you think the Tamil Nadu chief minister will meet a devaswom board president and agree to attend the programme? The board is autonomous. We have to meet the chief minister. The minister represented the chief minister and I accompanied him as the secretary to the government.
Coming back to the power crisis, you are the official face of a department which is facing the wrath of the public. How do you manage stress?
A government and a community is collective and I too am part of that. No government will intentionally switch off the power to put the public in hardship. When the situation requires, we are forced to do that. When there is a power outage at 11.45 pm, and people start sweating, it causes discomfort. People will not be convinced when I explain that the demand is high and there is a shortage of supply.
That is an occupational hazard and we have to face it. I keep myself assured that the crisis was not created by me. We are putting in 100% effort to solve the issue. It is a collective effort. The only way to solve the issue is self-restriction. Regulation is only the last resort. We overdrew 742 MW power from the grid last day. It was an offence and illegal. Still we did it to ease the burden on the public.
We need to self-regulate. For example, people charge their electric vehicles during peak power (usage). If we can reschedule the charging of the vehicle, it will be beneficial to society. Similarly, we can reduce the use of air conditioners. We are a state that purchases 80% of power from outside the state. The power we purchase is mostly thermal. So, if we boast that we don’t generate thermal power that pollutes the environment, some other part of the country is bearing the brunt.
The power crisis is the biggest challenge the UDF government is facing. Do you experience political pressure?
It is irrespective of the government. It doesn’t matter if it is a UDF government or an LDF one. People may say that this crisis happened because I assumed charge of (KSEB) CMD at this juncture. Unfortunately, it happened when I assumed office. If the previous CMD had continued, he too would have faced it.
Do you think the shortage of power can affect the development of the state?
The future is data processing and all projects are power dependent. At one time, we lived without electricity, but now we cannot afford to spend 25 minutes without electricity. We are all accustomed to using air conditioners, fans, and light. The current generation is data dependent. All of us have mobile phones and electric vehicles.
The demand for power is increasing day by day because of technology. I have used 1.44 MB floppy disks at one time but now I use a 3 TB hard disk. Future is power dependent. We cannot bring heavy industries to the state. We need IT-enabled services, software industry, or tourism industry.
When we say we don’t need power projects, the future will be compromised. Because all states need development, they need more power. If we don’t add internal generation, the future will be at a standstill. We have to become self-reliant.