The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has finalised alternate arrangements for procuring power to avert a supply crisis in the State.
The State-run power utility will urgently secure 500 MW through a ‘swap’ arrangement and 200 MW through short-term purchases to overcome the present supply crisis. The decision was conveyed to the State government at a review of the power situation held by Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty here on Monday.
Bids were invited for the 200-MW short-term contract on Monday. Bids for the swap arrangement—whereby KSEB accepts power from outside and replaces it at a later date— will be invited on Tuesday, it is learnt. The suppliers for both contracts will be finalised in two weeks’ time.
Also, bids for an earlier proposal for procuring 500 MW through medium-term contracts will be opened on September 4.
Meanwhile, the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission is likely to extend an ‘interim arrangement’ whereby the KSEB can continue to procure power under four ‘unapproved’ Design, Build, Finance, Own and Operate (DBFOO).
The commission conducted a hearing on Monday morning on a KSEB petition seeking the extension. In May this year, the commission had declined to give its approval for the contracts with Jhabua Power Ltd, Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd and Jindal Power Ltd. But it allowed the KSEB to continue to procure power from them for 75 days until alternate arrangements were in place. This ‘grace period’ had expired on Monday, August 21.
The State government had given a letter to the Commission supporting the KSEB plea. In addition to the aforementioned decisions, it has also been decided to step up energy conservation campaigns among the public.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will hold a meeting to discuss issues related to the power sector on August 25. Mr. Krishnankutty and senior KSEB officials will attend the meeting.
The weak southwest monsoon, which left storage positions in hydel dams in a precarious position, had forced the KSEB to purchase power from the energy exchanges at exorbitant costs, pushing the utility into a financial crisis.
