Looking beyond hydel Power

With the scope of establishing more hydel projects in the state turning remote and  the power needs soaring day by day, the State Government is finally looking towards other avenues, which remained hitherto undertapped. On top of it is a proposal to generate 1000 MW of wind power, from 17 potential locations identified through data from Wind Monitoring Stations.
Power Minister Aryadan Mohammed told the Assembly that the government was adopting a comprehensive policy to address the power needs of the state from a futuristic perspective, inclusive of promoting private entrepreneurs in the non-conventional energy field. Elaborate studies have been conducted with the help of Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET), functioning under Union Non-Conventional Energy Ministry. Based on the analysis of data collected for three years from the Wind Monitoring Stations, it has been found that there is immense scope for tapping wind power, especially in Idukki and eastern Palakkad. Stations functioning at Kanjikode in Palakkad and Vandiperiyar in Idukki are collecting data from a height of 80 metres, he said and added that plans to establish more stations at various locations were under consideration.
Aryadan said that the government had inked an MoU last year with the NTPC for starting wind power-based projects aimed at generating 200 MW power, out of which, 80 MW will come from windmills in the Ramakkalmedu belt in Idukki. For a start, a project for 10 MW generation is nearing completion. To enlist private participation in the initiative, detailed guidelines have been issued, he said. The Minister also said that tapping solar power was also important for a state like Kerala against the backdrop of proven results that solar panels with a one kilowatt installed capacity can deliver five units of electricity.
Setting a replicable model for the state, solar panelling will be taken up in the state Secretariat and Legislative Assembly complex. In the second phase, important district-level offices will also be brought under solar power, he said. The government is also pursuing LNG-based thermal power plants, which have been mooted. A proposal is also there for a coal-based thermal power plant, with expected allocation of coal from Bytharani coal fields in Odisha. Accepting the pointer raised by his predecessor A K Balan that a vicious campaign had been unleashed by some quarters against GAIL's proposed 1,250 kilometre-long Kochi-Koottanadu-Bangalore LNG line, Aryadan said that the stance might cripple the development hopes of Kerala as a whole.
"'3,500 cr has been set apart for the project by the Centre. With the adverse campaign, the future of the state will turn bleak,'' Aryadan feared. The Minister reminded that the state had been able to generate only 100 MW of power during the whole of 11th Five year Plan period, when the country generated 55,000 MW of energy from various sources during that period.