Thiruvananthapuram | Electricity Minister Sunny Joseph on Friday said Kerala was experiencing power cuts during night hours due to the shortage of electricity supplied from other states.
Speaking to reporters here, Joseph said electricity was available at around 45 paise per unit during the daytime, but was unavailable at Rs 10 per unit at night.
"Electricity that we borrowed from northern states during March and April has to be returned now. Around 400 MW of power has to be returned," he said.
The minister said power generation from Kerala's hydel projects had declined due to low reservoir levels.
"Last year, reservoir storage was around 47 per cent during this period. Now it is just 21 per cent. Rainfall has also been low this year. Even then, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) is purchasing whatever power is available from other states," he said.
Joseph said the state could not purchase electricity beyond Rs 10 per unit due to regulatory limits.
"The power market is highly competitive. We cannot purchase electricity for more than Rs 10 per unit. We are trying to manage the situation," he said.
The minister dismissed the perception that power regulation is intentionally imposed during the telecast of FIFA World Cup matches.
"It is during those night hours that electricity was not available for purchase. We do not have any facility to store electricity," he said.
He said solar energy could significantly supplement power supply during the daytime, but battery storage systems for large-scale night-time use were yet to become widely operational.
"We have no facility to preserve electricity for use at night. A few projects have started. New technologies are required for this and we are working on them," he said.
Joseph appealed to the public to voluntarily reduce electricity consumption.
"I switch off lights that are not necessary at my residence. I recently saw a video showing electricity being wasted at a municipal office. I request everyone to use electricity carefully," he said.
He said purchasing more electricity from outside would remain the only option if the power shortage worsened.
The minister also said the KSEB had entered into a long-term agreement during the tenure of former Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed to procure 465 MW of electricity at Rs 4.69 per unit from a private company.
He said the matter was now pending before the Supreme Court and KSEB had engaged senior advocate Kapil Sibal to represent it. The case is likely to come up for hearing next month, he added.
