Thiruvananthapuram | Keralam Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Wednesday said that the state government was in talks with several states and power companies to purchase electricity and the power crisis is expected to be brought under control within a week.
Satheesan, at a press conference here following a Cabinet meeting chaired by him, said that the government was trying to buy electricity from wherever it is available.
He said that recently the government purchased 150 mega watt power from Odisha and another 150 MW from the Nuclear Power Corporation Ltd (NPCL).
"We have contacted eight states to purchase power. So, to address the power crisis, we need to prepare short and long-term plans," he said.
He also said that the government will come out with a plan for the period from October 1 to the next monsoon season and will also formulate a new revised power policy.
"We are slowly bringing down the number of power cuts and within a week we expect to bring it totally under control," Satheesan contended.
The CM said that increased consumption, electricity production limitations, more demand at night, no storage facility for solar power, lack of adequate rain and rising temperatures all have contributed to the crisis.
"Compared to last September, this year the consumption increased by 925 MW during the same period. The consumption increased due to several reasons, including less rains. But, there has been no planning for this situation from last year.
"Also, we have no long term purchase agreements. The one we had earlier for 25 years at a rate of Rs 4.29 per unit was scrapped, but no alternative was put in place. So, we are looking into it seriously," he said.
He said that while the government was negotiating with various parties for a long term power purchase agreement, it was not going to buy electricity at Rs 30 per unit as the ceiling set for it by the state was Rs 10.
Satheesan said that the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) had demanded Rs 30 per unit.
On the other hand, NPCL provided 150MW power at Rs 4.65 per unit, he said, adding that officials from Keralam had reached Mumbai to hold talks with the company for buying more electricity from it.
He further said that Himachal Pradesh offered to give 130 MW power during the daytime and 80 MW at night, but the rate worked out to around Rs 30 and therefore, that was not accepted.
The CM said that Tamil Nadu, which is also facing power crisis, entered into an agreement to buy electricity for Rs 38 per unit.
"The Keralam government is trying to purchase power at rates below the ceiling of Rs 10," he said.
During the press conference, Satheesan further said that though the current crisis was only temporary, if careful plans are not made, it will become a long term problem. He said that the state currently requires around 6,000 MW which will increase to 10,000 MW by 2030. "Once semiconductor and artificial intelligence related businesses come to the state, the electricity consumption will increase even more. So there will be a long term plan which will also take such projections into consideration. There have been no planning or projections in the past. "We can increase the renewable energy production up to 6000 MW if we can provide storage facilities for it. We can then use it during peak hours. So, there will be a detailed power policy that includes renewable energy," the CM said. He said that there were numerous investment proposals before the government in the field of renewable energy and the concerned departments were examining them. He further said that private players in the field of renewable energy will be welcomed to the state's power sector, but made it clear that there were no plans to privatise the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). "We want to make KSEB self-reliant," he added. The state has been reeling from power cuts, especially at night, as temperatures soar due to lack of rain following a weak monsoon this year.
