Skip to main content

Power blackout is now a history in Kerala

 

It seems the days when Kerala depended heavily on the Udumalpet-Palakkad line for electricity is  now a thing of the past. With the state government commissioning the Edamon-Kochi corridor in the Tirunelveli-Madakkathara inter-state power transmission corridor things are moving at a fast pace. The completion of this project is a landmark moment that makes way for giant strides in the domains of power transmission supply and agriculture of the state.  The new power transmission network strengthened the power import capacity of the state by 800 MW and also enables Kerala to bring in power from any part of the country.


With the completion of Edamon- Kochi 400 KV line (148.3 km), Tirunelveli- Kochi-Thrissur- Udumalpettu 400 KV power highway (437 km) becomes a reality.  Palakkad, Kottayam and Kochi see a spike of 2 kV after the line was charged. The new Edamon-Kochi corridor lessens the state's dependency on the Udumalpet-Palakkad line and allays fears of a complete blackout if the line is damaged. The line also plays an important role in resolving issues regarding electricity transmission from neighbouring states.

The Edamon-Kochi corridor 400 kV DC system covers a distance of about 150 km, passing through Kollam (22km), Pathanamthitta (47 km), Kottayam (51 km) and Ernakulam (28) districts. At the time when Edamon-Kochi power transmission line was waiting to be commissioned, the state's share of power from Kudankulam Nuclear Power Station had been routed through Kudankulam-Tirunelveli-Udumalpet-Madakkathara 400kV lines.  The state had suffered additional transmission loss through this route as it is 250 km longer than the Tirunelveli-Edamon-Kochi-Madakkathara stretch.

With the commissioning of the project, Kerala can use the share from Central pool completely with precision. As a result, the line availability is ensured and power distribution shall be uninterrupted during the repair. Further, KSEB can reduce the congestion in the lines of Kerala – Tamil Nadu area. It has prevented the transmission loss greatly, making way for power supply in better voltage. The new electric corridor makes it possible the power supply at a low rate and on a long-time basis. The government can now make the required 400 KV substations (Kottayam, Edamon) for enhancing the transmission capacity. By the completion of Madakkathara-Kozhikode 400 KV line, the availability of electricity in the Malabar region will also go up.

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Kerala launches India's 1st digital varsity, set to be global hub for e-learning

  Over the past five years, Kerala has been a state of trend setters. So it should come as no surprise that the state, which has already launched a lot of first-in-the-country projects, came up with another in the form of a digital university. As is customary for Kerala in most of the previous projects, this one too is a pathbreaking venture in the country. It was Governor of Kerala Arif Mohammed Khan who inaugurated Kerala University of Digital Sciences Innovation and Technology based in Technocity at Mangalapuram, the first phase of which now completed with an academic and hostel block. The varsity is an outcome of the state's resolve to embrace new technologies and the continued efforts to use them for producing positive changes in people. It is expected to be a global hub for higher learning and technology.  Setting international standards in digital education for higher studies, the varsity will provide a digital platform for those wanting to pursue postgraduate and r...

Welfare pension brings a whiff of life to the elderly

  As people hit old age, those employed in the public sector can retire and live off the pensions and other benefits doled out by the government. Those posted in the private firms, on the other hand, could save enough and secure life post-retirement. But what about the other at-risk group, the non-earning elderly people who depend on others for money?   The State Government assists them with welfare pensions. The government has implemented the pension scheme to help senior citizens without any source of income to be independent for their primary needs. As per the records, more than 46 lakh people receive social security pensions from the State Government, while another 6.5 lakh people draw the welfare fund board pensions. In the past four years of the current administration, a total of 29,770 people were included in the beneficiary list for pensions. The government also scrutinized the list and weeded out the people who are ineligible to get the benefits.  Much to the...

The reason behind hunger-free Kerala

When the country enforced a blanket lockdown to check the spread of Covid-19, a large section of people were pushed to the brink of hunger crisis. One of the worst hit were destitute, daily wage labourers, migrants and many who make the floating population. But a timely intervention by the Kerala Government made sure these vulnerable sections were not left starving. Rising to the occasion, the Kerala government set up 1,255 kitchens in 14 districts in the state and distributed food packets to the needy. Community kitchen, as the kind gesture was named, gave away up to 3 lakh food packets a day, saving hundreds of people who were in danger of starvation during lockdown.   A first of its kind initiative, the scheme was aimed at keeping everyone in the state hunger-free and was implemented through the local bodies of Kerala, with Ernakulam, Malappuram, Palakkad, Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur districts receiving the most number of kitchens. The free food packets were served lar...