THIRUVANANTHPAURAM: It happens quite rarely for KSEB Limited. For over a week, the state's daily power consumption has been far below the forecast demand. In the immediate short term, this will mean less strain on KSEBL's finances; the utility can save on its outside power purchases. It will also conserve more water in our reservoirs, promising a bright summer in 2018.
The average peak demand forecast for the last seven days was nearly 3600 MW. As it turned out, the peak demand was less than 3300 MW. "The extended monsoon has lowered temperatures, and consumption as a result has been calm and steady," a top KSEBL official said. KSEBL has estimated that the total power consumption for 2017-18 would be 24,770 MU. Eventually, it is felt the total consumption would be in the range of 23,000 MU.
To meet to increasing demand, KSEBL had already entered into long-term agreements for 865 MW. 315 MW of the contracted power has reached the state during 2016-17 period itself. The remaining 550 MW has started to flow in from October 1 this year.
The power utility also seems to have struck a right balance. "At this stage, we need not overwork our hydel stations but we can also purchase a certain minimum quantity of power from outside sources as the prices are relatively low," the source said. KSEBL has been purchasing an average of 55.25 million units from outside. Of this, 27.91 MU is secured as central allocation from central generating stations, at a relatively low cost of Rs 2-3 per unit. If a month ago the peak hour rate of power from outside sources was nearly Rs 6 a unit, it has now come down to Rs 3.90 per unit.
