Kerala CM gives state one week to tackle power crisis as El Niño effect looms

Keralam CM warns State to brace for rising heat, surging power demand as El Niño effect set to worsen

Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan has set a one-week deadline for the government to address the power crisis currently affecting Keralam, while warning that conditions will deteriorate further from October as El Niño intensifies global climate change.

Speaking to reporters after chairing a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Mr Satheesan urged the State to prepare for relatively high temperatures and a corresponding upward spiral in power demand that Keralam would struggle to meet. He stressed that while immediate action was necessary, long-term strategic planning remained essential to transform Keralam into a power-surplus State.

Climate change and consumption patterns drive crisis

The Chief Minister identified multiple factors driving the current crisis: climate-change-spurred unprecedented heat, surging power demand driven by the rise of electric vehicles and air conditioners, depleted hydel storage levels from a weak monsoon, and a national power-generation deficit.

"Air conditioners have ceased to be a luxury in Keralam and have become an inevitably essential commodity, given the worsening global warming and the State's ageing population," he added.

Blame on previous government's policy decisions

Mr Satheesan blamed the LDF government's "unthoughtful scrapping" of the "fiscally advantageous" long-term power purchase agreement signed by the Oommen Chandy-led UDF government with private power suppliers to ward off future shortages in 2011 for precipitating the situation.

He also criticised the previous LDF government for failing to build sufficient storage capacity to harness the full potential of solar power, despite prosumers in Keralam producing a significant amount of renewable energy, chiefly from solar.

Storage capacity and renewable energy focus

"The UDF will redeem the LDF's mistake. It will build surplus storage capacity in the years so the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) can draw from batteries to meet demand when it peaks during the night hours," Mr Satheesan said.

The Chief Minister ruled out new hydel projects, saying they were not environmentally or financially viable for Keralam. "Renewable energy backed by commensurate storage capacity is Keralam's panacea for green power. The UDF will enlist the private sector for boosting Kerala's power generation efforts. However, the government has no plans to privatise the KSEB, which will remain a public utility," he added.

Technology ambitions increase power requirements

Mr Satheesan said that Keralam's demand for uninterrupted, high-quality power would spiral upwards as the UDF government moved to exploit the latest developments in Artificial Intelligence, including data centres and electronic chip design and production, with the help of global private investment.

The government was negotiating a long-term power purchase agreement with various States, as well as the country's thermal and nuclear power generation behemoths in the public sector, he said.

Regulatory constraints and national context

"Unlike neighbouring States, including Tamil Nadu, the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission limits the cost at which States could buy power from private and public sector suppliers, including States like Odisha and Himachal Pradesh," he said.

Mr Satheesan said the power crisis was not unique to Kerala. "Even BJP-ruled States, which have the Central government's unvarnished fiscal and administrative support, are plagued by power shortages due to a deficit in production and surge in demand," he added.

Source: The Hindu