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China to wipe out Kerala's power deficit

As the controversy over Union Defence Minister George Fernandes's statement that China is the biggest threat to India continues, Kerala is trying to rope in Beijing to wipe out its power deficit.

Inspired by the success of small power projects in China, the Kerala government has decided to explore the possibility of setting up a network of small hydro-electric projects in the state.

Briefing the media about his recent visit to China, state Electricity Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said an expert team would study the feasibility of setting up small hydel projects to meet the growing demand for power.

During the visit, the state government had signed an agreement for setting up 18 'Chinese model' small hydel projects in the state to produce 107 MW of power. Of these projects, 12 would be in Chaliyar, three in Pamba, two in Kuttiyadi and one in Mahi.

The minister said an expert team from China would visit the state soon to study the areas of co-operation. Four projects would be taken up as pilot projects and they would be completed within two years. Work on the other 14 projects would also be taken up as early as possible. China would extend loan for importing equipment for the projects.

He said the International Centre on Small Hydro Power in China had agreed to transfer technical know-how to Kerala for this purpose. Centre chief Tong Jiandong would visit the state soon to hold talks with the authorities concerned.

Vijayan said China had expressed its willingness to transfer technology to the Kerala State Electricity Board to operate 200-odd small and very small power projects.

He said the power production-transmission-distribution network in the state would be modernised with Singapore's co-operation. He had held discussions with the Singapore Power Authority officials in this regard during his 12-day tour of China and Singapore.

Vijayan said China had achieved remarkable progress in the implementation of small hydro-electric projects by generating 21,000 MW of power from 50,000 small scale projects.

He said there were 140 factories in China producing equipment for small hydro-electric projects.

The minister said the power projects in China were managed by counties.

He said the district panchayats in the state were not equipped to manage such projects. The state government would not hesitate to hand over the charge of small power projects to these panchayats once they were fully prepared to manage them.

Vijayan said the 18 projects which would be implemented with the Chinese assistance were Poovaramkode (2 MW), Olikkal (5.5 MW), Danakkampoil (6.75 MW), Kandappanchal (6.25 MW), Pathamkayan (4 MW), Kakkadanpoil (25 MW) and Kuralimutti (3 MW) in Chaliyar river, Vhanthankodenada (7 MW), Poozhithode (3.50 MW), in Kuttiyadi, Vilangad (7 MW) in Mahi river, Maniyar (5 MW), Perunthenaruvi (5 MW) and Thevarmudi (4.75 MW) in Pamba river.

UNI