Energy

The history of Hydropower development in Kerala begins with the commissioning of Pallivasal Hydro Electric Project in 1940. Next few decades saw the progressive developments of various schemes. Sabarigiri in 1966 and Idukki in 1976 are milestones in the endeavour of power development of Kerala State Electricity Board. There are 24 Hydel Projects owned by KSEB and 2 by private agencies. The Wind Farm located at Kanjikkode with an installed capacity of 2.025 MW is the only one utilising the non-conventional energy source. The Brahmapuram and Kozhikode Diesel Power Plants with an installed capacity of 106.6 MW and 128 MW uses LSHS as fuel and are owned by KSEB.

The Kerala State Electricity Board has an installed capacity of 2087.23 MW on its own with another 570.016 MW contributed by NTPC and Private Sector producers taking the total installed capacity of State to 2657.24 MW.

The other plants that are catering to the energy demands of the state are the Kayamkulam plant of NTPC with an installed capacity of 359.58 MW and the BSES, Kochi Plant with an installed capacity of 157.00 MW. The 20.44 MW plant of KPCL, Kasaragod is the latest entrant in the IPP segment of generation. The balance is met through import of power from the Central Sector.

Growth of Power System in Kerala

Source : KSEB

Transmission

The Kerala power system consists of 13 hydel stations, 11 small hydel stations, 2 captive power plants, 2 thermal stations, 3 IPPs, and 1 wind mill. The grid is connected to the Southern Region Transmission system through two 400kV double circuit lines at Madakkathara and Trivandrum. There are 5 major inter-state transmission lines. The major substations include one 400 KV sub-station, and fourteen 220 KV substations and four 220kV substations under construction. The main grid comprises of the 220 KV system.

The net energy requirement for the year 2006-07 is estimated to be 14,687mu. Out of this about 7,457mu is expected from hydel sources, 7804 from central generating stations, and from the remaining sources. The present peak load demand is about 2700MW and is expected to increase up to 2,800 MW during April/May. The hydel potential is about 6130MU if the inflow is normal. We have a storage capacity of 4083MU.

Distribution

KSE Board is the sole distributor of the Electrical Energy for the state of Kerala except Thrissur Corporation and Munnar where the distribution is managed by licensees. In Thrissur, City Corporation and in Munnar M/s Tata Tea Ltd are the licensees. The system as on 29/02/2009 are as follows:

LT Consumers As on 29.02.2009

(Source: www.kseboard.com , Economic review 2005)