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Monday, Nov 03, 2008
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Relief to KSEB as generation cost falls

P. Venugopal

The benefit will reach consumers only by the beginning of December

Cost of a unit at Kayamkulam NTPC is Rs.4.98
KSEB will have to rework data given to panel

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The fall in international crude oil prices will considerably bring down the cost of power generation at the liquid fuel stations in the State, but its benefit will reach the consumers only by the beginning of December.

This is because the stations running on liquid fuels are holding at least one month’s stock of naphtha and diesel purchased at high cost.

Thermal power stations are required by the regulatory authorities to announce their per unit generation cost every fortnight. According to the latest data, announced on Saturday, the cost of generating one unit of electricity at the naphtha-based station of the National Thermal Power Corporation at Kayamkulam is Rs.4.98. It was close to Rs.9 last month. The per unit generation cost at Kayamkulam had even crossed Rs.12 in July, when the price of naphtha touched the level of more than Rs.63,000 a tonne. The station is now receiving naphtha supply at around Rs.27,500 a tonne.

The lower generation cost at the liquid fuel stations will come up as a new factor at the public hearing exercise now being conducted by the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) to decide whether the existing ‘thermal surcharge’ on electricity should be continued on not.

The commission is holding a sitting in Palakkad on Monday and another in Thrissur on Wednesday, after one in the State capital on Saturday. The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) on Saturday had told the commission that its additional liability on purchasing costly electricity from the liquid fuel power stations would come up to Rs.8.2 crore daily for the rest of the year. The KSEB had also indicated its desire to impose another hike in electricity charges and more restrictions in power supply to reduce the quantum of this liability.

The KSEB will now have to rework the data it had presented before the commission on Saturday. It should be noted that the crude oil prices will keep fluctuating. So also other factors such as availability of power from the coal and lignite-based power stations outside the State, because of uncertainties in fuel supply in the recent months.

The approach the commission has taken, therefore, is to review the situation from time to time to take decisions according to the changing equation.

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