Kerala State Electricity Board buys costly power

For the first time this year, Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has been forced to evacuate power from costly thermal and naphtha stations in the state. The utility was forced to purchase power from Brahmapuram and Kozhikode diesel power plants on March 9, the day that witnessed the highest power consumption of the year
(77.5 million units). “It is also a fact that we resorted to costly power only for a day, and that too just 0.38 million units. But this is a sign of things to come,” a KSEBL official said. “Last year this time, the daily power consumption was less than 65 MU. Now the average daily consumption is more than 75 MU,” he added. KSEBL had earlier estimated that daily consumption would cross 82 MU this summer. Now, it has been revised to nearly 85 MU, especially if summer showers are late to arrive. (The record daily consumption was 80.44 MU, set on April 29, 2016.) It is felt that the existing record will be broken before the start of April.