Will the clamour for Athirappilly Project finally end?

Thiruvananthapuram: It looks like the unceasing monsoon rain has effectively drowned the proposed 163-MW Athirappilly Power Project.

For one, after 25 dams almost simultaneously lifted their shutters and swept away large swathes of hitherto dry land, Nehru's 'temples' have suddenly become demonic installations to be wary of. The largest volume of discharge when the shutters were opened were not from Idukki or Idamalayar dams but from Peringalkuthu, which is on the Chalakkudy river and just above the catchment area of the proposed Athirappilly dam. If 7.5 lakh litres burst out from the Idukki reservoir per second, it was 10 lakh litres a second when the shutters of Peringalkuthu were opened.

But what might clinch the argument against Athirappilly is this: KSEB Limited does not require the power generated even by its existing hydel stations.

Since the last week of July there was utter desperation to somehow bring down the water level in reservoirs. Generation in hydel stations was stepped up to maximum possible levels. And when this outgo was no match for what has been termed a dreadful inflow, for the first time in history 25 dams almost simultaneously lifted their shutters on August 9.

Reckless hydel stations

Just as things looked on the verge of catastrophe, certain hydel projects operated, seemingly recklessly, against the survival plan. The 180-MW Lower Periyar project in Idukki, which too had upped its shutters, instead of stepping up began to generate less than half of what it normally does. The project can actually generate nearly 4.5 million units a day. But on August 9, the day when the state seemed the most paranoid about the rising reservoir levels, the Lower Periyar station generated just 1.68 million units. From then on the production fell even further. Though it had three generators of 60 MW capacity each, it was operating just one of them.

Sholayar, too, was generating below capacity. Among the four dams that make up the Parambikulam Aliyar Project, Kerala Sholayar was the only dam (the other three – Parambikulam, Peruvaripallom and Thoonakadavu – are under Tamil Nadu's control) that was not operating at full capacity and reducing its waters. Kuttiyadi, Neriamangalam and Pallivasal also were not generating at crisis rate.

Embarrassment of riches

This means one thing. KSEB Limited had no use for the additional units of power generated. Now, after the rains intensified, the power utility generates 38 million units daily. “Since we have an installed capacity of nearly 2000 MW, we can scale up daily generation to even 48 million units,” a top KSEB official said. “But we have stopped short of generating more than 38 MU because the remaining requirement of 22 to 24 MU has to be secured from power producers with whom we have struck long-term agreements, and also from the central generating stations,” the official said.

Selling surplus power has become problematic. Now with the output up, power prices have gone down to Rs 2.5 per unit. Last month, KSEBL had sold power at over Rs 4.5 per unit. Now there is a glut in the power market and the prices are falling. Not many states are willing to accept the swap offer where KSEB transfers free power to them on the condition that it is returned in a time of need.

The state utility these days surrenders nearly 20 million units of its daily quota of 32 mu from central generating stations. The CGS power is highly cheap, it comes at below Rs 2 per unit. “If we keep surrendering, there is a chance that our quota might be cut in future,” the official said.

KSEBL cannot reject even a unit of power from contracted sources as any breach would invite a heavy penalty. The utility has struck agreements for the import of 6,440 million units of power annually at reasonable costs for the next 25 years. The maximum that the Athirappilly project can supply the state is 200 million units.

Athirappilly vs small hydel projects

So will KSEBL still insist on the Athirappilly project when it is not sure what to do with the power it already has? Top KSEBL officials refused to comment on the issue saying it was not the right time.

Experts say that even if KSEB wants more internal generation, it only has to speed up its small hydel projects. Official figures say that 96 small hydel projects have been stalled or delayed in the state. Together, they would have provided 740 MW or nearly 7,500 million units, nearly 3000 times more than what even the most optimistic expect from the Athirappilly project.