Kerala State Electricity Board seeks funds to keep up maintenance

The major assets of the Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEBL)  like the state's population, are ageing at a fast pace. And now, in order to upkeep its 'greying' hydel stations, the public utility has sought more money from the Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) for the. About 984 MW of KSEBL's hydel capacity, which is nearly 50 per cent of its total generation capacity are run without renovation and modernisation, according to the board. All its major stations - Sholayar, Kuttiadi, Idukki and Idamalayar - are over 30 years old. Sholayar is the oldest, its 18-MW first unit is more than 50 years old. The 75-MW Kuttiadi plant is 45 years old. Three of the six units of the 780-MW Idukki Hydel stations are 41 years old. KSEB has argued that such stations that run on borrowed time required higher allocations for maintenance. To prevent criticism that pumping in more money would widen its already yawning deficit, the board has argued that the demand was reasonable.