By P. Sreekumaran
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has cleared a proposal for signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Germany’s Seutsche Gellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and WRI India energy solutions.
This is an essential component of the VD Satheesan government’s plan to find a permanent solution to the severe power crisis plaguing the state. It will go a long way firming up Keralam’s lack of grid-scale energy storage facilities. The MoU has been proposed under the Energy Storage for Renewable Energy Integration India (StoREin) project implemented by the GIZ in collaboration with the Union government’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy(MNRE).
StoREin aims to establish “enabling conditions” for deployment of energy storage solutions within India’s power distribution networks via technical studies, demonstration projects and capacity-building.
WRI India, the leading consortium partner, will ensure technical assistance, conduct pre-feasibility studies and support tendering and monitoring activities, according to a KSEB order. On its part, the KSEB will ensure data sharing, site visits and regulatory facilitation without any financial obligation to the KSEB.
The role of GIZ will be documented separately through an exchange of letters. Data-sharing with WRI India “in mutually agreed-upon areas” would be subject to a non-disclosure agreement that has been executed.
In a major effort to solve the power crisis, the KSEB is pressing on with plans for battery storage systems (BESS) and pumped storage projects (PSP), the latter will be linked to the State’s hydro-power facilities. The UDF government has also mooted community-level battery energy storage systems in the Revised Budget for 2026-27.
It is a matter of grave concern that the state does not have energy storage facilities for saving the surplus solar power for meeting the soaring evening demand.
The crisis underscores the state’s need to explore the possibilities in floating solar projects PSPs and community-level battery storage systems with the help of local bodies.
The KSEB is also going ahead with plans for securing 300 megawatt (MW) for 25 years under a scheme of the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). The supply, expected to begin in 2028, will help alleviate the present power crisis. Most important, it will meet the peak demand. The state will also get the electricity at a tariff of Rs 6.07 per unit.
The procurement is planed under tranche IX of the Firm and Dispatchable Renewable Energy (FDRE-IX) scheme of the SECI. Of the 15,00 MW offered under the tranche, the SECI has offered 300 MW to the KSEB. As per the scheme, SECI is the “intermediary procurer: and the power will be supplied BY ACMED Solar Holdings. An important feature of the arrangement is that the long-term contract is meant to meet the State’s electricity needs during the no-solar hours.
The full-time directors of the KSEB have approved the draft power sale agreement(PSA) with the SECI. The document is expected to be placed before the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission for securing its approval for the tariff under the PSA.
In another significant development, the UDF government has framed guidelines for Operation Toofan, which is aimed at cracking the drug rackets. The Kerala Police will also trail narcotics money through bank accounts, UPI transactions and crypto wallets.
The guidelines, approved by the Home Department, suggest a coordinated campaign combining intelligence-led enforcement, financial investigation, rehabilitation and community mobilization.
It will also mark a radical shift from targeting individual users to dismantling the networks behind the drug trade. Financiers, suppliers, transporters and habitual peddlers will be singled out. Alongside, rehabilitation pathways will be provided for those affected by substance dependence.
The campaign will seek to stop trafficking through coastal routes, courier and postal networks, courier and postal networks, dark web-markets, rail parcels and inter-state transit corridors. The ‘brain’ behind the operation will be a Central Intelligence and Analytics Cell, whose job is to collate information from seizures, dark-web activity, cryptocurrency flows and confidential tip-offs and convert the data into actionable intelligence. The Cell will maintain dossiers on the top 200 known historically known drug offenders and 500 emerging offenders in the State and will send weekly “lead packets” to district police officers.
Team Toofan will function at the sub-district level under the direct supervision of the sub-divisional police officer. Under “Toofan Care” first-time users and persons affected by addiction will be treated as persons eligible for de-addiction. (IPA Service)
