THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The early onset of summer threatens to spoil KSEB Limited’s party. On February 19, the state recorded the highest daily consumption in the last two years: 70 million units.
The highest daily consumption ever recorded was 70.1 MU, which was in the middle of April in 2014, when the summer was at its peak. KSEBL’s average estimate for February is 64 MU.
Thanks to the timely contracts it has struck with private traders and falling crude prices, KSEBL is yet to feel the heat. Hydel generation is still kept low at 17 MU, lower than last year during February when the heat was not as taxing.
(However, with the heat soaring, it had to be scaled up in the last few days.) This means that the State’s reservoirs will have a ‘nest egg’ of water to be used when summer turns more intense.
More encouragingly, KSEBL has not been depending on costly naphtha or diesel plants for the last two months. This, in turn, translates into a considerably lower power purchase costs for KSEBL.
However, top KSEBL officials shudder to think of a merciless summer when daily consumption could soar to never-before touched peaks of 75-75 MU.
“This would cause our hydel stations to be overworked, and we might even be forced to evacuate costly power from Kozhikode and Brahmapuram diesel plants,” a top KSEBL source said.
Temperatures are expected to further soar in the coming days. “But we also expect rains by the end of February and early March, which will temper the consumption. And our hope is that the coming summer will be moderate,” the source said.
Intense pre-summer heat, it is pointed out, is not an indication of a powerful summer. The expectation is that consumption will be confined within the 65-66 MU mark during February. “But for this to happen, rains will have to come to our aid,” the source said.
