Kannur: A major power outage struck several parts of North Kerala on Saturday night after a transformer at the Udupi Generating Station malfunctioned.

The power failure affected eight sub-stations, including Manjeshwar, Kubnoor, Vidya Nagar, and Mulleria. The power disruption was exacerbated by the state's limited power supply capacity. To manage the crisis, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) imposed unscheduled load shedding from January 7, which will continue until 16.

The issue is primarily due to power restrictions imposed by the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation (KPTCL). The supply from the Konaje-Manjeshwar line, which previously delivered 40 MW, has now dropped to only 15 MW. The electricity for the Kubnoor and Manjeshwar 110 kV substations is sourced from the Konaje substation in Karnataka, and the reduced supply has left the electricity department with no choice but to implement load shedding.

Efforts to supply power through the Kanhirode 220 kV substation, using the Mylatti route, failed due to the transmission line’s inability to handle the load. A potential solution is the Mylatti-Vidya Nagar 12 km multi-tower multi-voltage project, which began in 2019 but has faced delays, with only 3 km of the work completed so far.

Two major projects stalled

Currently, the only electricity supply route to Northern Kerala is the Areekode-Kanhirode-Mylatti 220 kV line. Recently, a fault in the dual-circuit line from Areekode to Kanhirode caused multiple power outages in Kannur and Kasaragod districts.

Two large-scale projects aimed at addressing this issue are the Udupi-Karinthalam and Karinthalam-Wayanad 400 kV line projects. These lines would provide an alternate route for power supply from Udupi to Wayanad, ensuring stable power delivery even in case of faults. The Union Ministry of Power is overseeing these projects, but they are currently stalled due to compensation issues. Once completed, these lines would connect Kerala to the national grid, ensuring power stability across the state.

The Karinthalam 400 kV substation, part of the planned 125 km line, is also facing delays. Of the 360 towers required, only 64 have been completed, with a budget of ₹639 crore. The Kerala State Electricity Board's Transgrid is overseeing the project, with L&T Construction Ltd. handling the construction. If the Udupi-Karinthalam 400 kV line is completed, it will bring an additional 2000 MW of power to Kerala. The completion of these projects is crucial for ensuring a stable power supply in North Kerala and mitigating the frequent outages caused by transmission constraints.