Kerala State Electricity Board

The history of electricity in the state is around one century old. The first effort in this direction was a private endeavour. Electricity was first brought to the state by a British company – the Kannan Devan Hill Produce Company, Munnar. The first generating station of the state was set up on the right bank of a tributary of River Periyar in 1906. It was a hydroelectric project and the tributary called Mudirappuzha continues to be the site for a large numbers of hydroelectric projects in the state.

Attempts at power generation for meeting local needs through thermal plants were making progress in several parts of the state between 1929 and 1941. The Trivandrum Electric Supply which supplied power for street and domestic lighting and for lights and fans in government offices was the earliest of such efforts. In 1927, a Thermal Power Station was established under government ownership at Thiruvananthapuram for the production of electrical energy on commercial lines. Three oil engine generators, of a capacity of 65 kW each, were installed and commercial production started in 1929. This station was located at Thampanoor at Thiruvananthapuram. An Electrical Wing under the State Public Works Department was entrusted with the administration of the scheme.

The next significant development was the formation of a separate department for electricity in 1932 by His Highness Sri Chithirathirunal Maharaja and his Diwan Sir C P Ramaswami Iyer. The formation of the Electricity Department paved the way for notable developments in the field. Thermal generating stations were set up at Kollam, Kottayam and Nagercoil (now in Tamil Nadu) in 1934. By that time, the possibilities of hydroelectric generation attracted the attention of the technologists and authorities.

The first attempt at generation on a commercial scale was made in 1935-36 when the Government of Cochin issued a licence to the Cochin State Power and Light Corporation for electrification of the towns of Ernakulam and Thrissur and the suburbs.

Kerala being a land of mountains and rivers presented a fertile field for hydroelectric generation. The vast potential for hydroelectric generation in the state prompted the state authorities to take steps to establish stations for hydroelectric generation. The first of these ventures was the Pallivasal Hydroelectric Project, the construction of which was started in 1933. The first stage of the project was commissioned in 1940. Its capacity was 13.5 MW. By that time, a comparable electric transmission network had also been completed with 66 kV substations at Alappuzha, Mavelikkara, Kothamangalam, Kundara, Kalamasserry, Viyyur, Aluva, and Thiruvananthapuram, which were also commissioned in 1940 during April and May. With the commissioning of Pallivasal project in 1940, the Kannan Devan Hills Produce Company closed down its plant. Supply from the Pallivasal hydro-electric project in Travancore began in 1942, and by 1945-46, the entire requirements of Ernakulam and Mattanchery were met from this source.

The Kerala state Electricity board started functioning under the direction of a newly formed Kerala government on 31 March 1957. The first governing body consisted of 5 members, and was headed by chairman K P Sreedhara Kaymal. The staff of the erstwhile Department of Electricity of the Thiru-Kochi state were transferred to the KSEB.

At the time of its inception, in 1958, the KSEB had an installed capacity of 109.5 MW, with a total annual internal generation of 441.35 MU. Over the years, as demand increased, the board has imported power from neighbouring states and private entities. As per the Central Electricity Act 2003, KSEB was converted to Kerala State Electricity Board Limited in 2014. The original KSEB was dissolved and its assets and liabilities transferred to the government initially and then transferred to the newly formed company KSEB Limited.

In 2015, KSEB commissioned its first solar power plant, marking the beginning of its formal entry into grid‑connected solar generation.