T’PURAM: The heavy summer showers have come as a surprise gift to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) which had been struggling to meet the spiralling electricity till a few days ago. The electricity demand has nosedived to 2,908MW on Wednesday against the over 4,000MW demand a week ago.
The unavailability of coal and the resulting slump in power generation across the country was troubling the board till a few days ago. The board had even decided to procure electricity at a rate up to Rs 20 per unit to circumvent power shortages.
According to KSEB authorities, the heavy rains have significantly improved the power position of the board, helping it to sell excess power. “The board has been selling 7 to 8mu power daily for the last few days at Rs 4 to 5 per unit. Depending on the ground situation, the board either surrenders the commissioned power or sells the excess hydel power. However, the board has not made any significant increase in the generation of power from Idukki and other major reservoirs,” they said.
The daily electricity demand in the state has come down to 71mu. The demand had touched an all-time high (92mu) during the think of the summer in April this year.
