A low voltage year for power sector in Kerala

K Radhakrishnan

Setbacks in power generation efforts of the board

The power sector in the State passed through a virtual ‘brown out’ phase in 2012 as it faced setbacks in efforts to augment power generation. Poor rains, rise in fuel costs, levies, and a delayed tariff hike added to the woes of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).

In short, it was not a good year for KSEB and its consumers, said K. Radhakrishnan, chairman, Brightening Kerala Energy Conservation Project of the KSEB Engineers Association and former KSEB Member (Generation). “The New Year is feared to be more tough,” he said.

The report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), which de facto sealed all avenues for major hydro-electric projects for the State in the future, was also a major blow. Last week, the KSEB saw the de-allocation of a coal block in Odisha. The block was allocated in 2007 under conditions that its utilisation for power generation would start in five years. But when that did not take place the Odisha government took back the block, he said.

In spite of the power shortage, the consumption touched an all-time high during 2012. The average daily consumption was now racing towards 60 million units and can even touch 64 million units during the summer months.

Studies by the KSEB showed that the main cause for the rise in consumption was the recent rise in the use of induction cookers as an alternative to LPG following restrictions imposed on LPG supply. The studies showed that about 15 lakh induction cookers were in use in the State, Mr. Radhakrishnan said.

The increased use of inverters was also adding fuel to fire. The peak-time shortage through this method was feared to increase further by another 350 mega watt in the summer season. On the generation front, no appreciable progress could be registered and environment activism was the main cause for that, Mr. Radhakrishnan said.

Eco concerns

While several small and medium hydel projects with a total installed capacity of around 500 mega watt were in various stages of construction, major projects (to generate a total of 1,400 mega watt) remained stalled as due to environmental concerns, he said.

The WGEEP report submitted to the Union government had also recommended the phased decommissioning of the existing dams. If we use the carbon footprint yard stick, switching to thermal power would only do more harm to the environment, he said.

Each unit of thermal electricity would mean 900 gm of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, thereby adding to global warming. A new approach was the need of the hour to save the State from a total collapse, he said.

Now, the State was almost unanimous in it that the report was unscientific and not suitable for the State, he said.

The positive thing was that energy conservation efforts had gathered momentum in 2012.

Government agencies such as Energy Management Centre, ANERT, and KSEB had come up with their own awareness campaigns, he added.

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WGEEP report termed unscientific

Focus sought on conservation, generation

Source : The Hindu