Kerala power crisis in September had an obvious trigger: electricity demand rose sharply while the power available to meet the evening peak fell short. The more important question is whether the state is facing a shortage of electricity generation or a shortage of dependable power at the time it is needed most.
That distinction is becoming more important as Kerala expands renewable energy. The state’s September experience showed that adding generation capacity does not automatically solve a peak-hour supply problem when much of that generation is available at different hours.
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Kerala has faced peak-hour power shortages before. The State Planning Board’s Economic Reviews have documented periods of peak inadequacy and heavy dependence on electricity procured from outside the state for more than a decade. What has changed is the combination of higher demand, weaker hydropower availability, rapid growth in solar generation, dependence on the wider power market and a steep evening demand peak.
September exposed the timing problem
September is normally not Kerala’s highest-demand month. This year was different. Average daily power demand in September was reported at about 5,000 MW, against 3,794 MW in September 2025, while peak demand reached a record 5,400 MW. The state government later reported that daily electricity consumption had touched 95.39 million units, with the highest demand generally occurring between 7 pm and midnight.
The problem became particularly acute on September 16. Daily electricity requirement reached 95.82 million units, while the shortfall exceeded 900 MW. At 10.23 pm, when demand was at its highest, the shortage was nearly 700 MW.
These are different measures of the same problem. Million units measure energy consumed over a period; megawatts measure power available at a particular moment. Kerala’s immediate difficulty was therefore not simply the quantity of electricity consumed over a day. It was the inability to secure enough power during the evening hours when demand peaked.
The state government responded by asking departments and public-sector organisations to shift flexible electricity use, including pumping and water heating, towards solar hours. KSEB has also urged consumers to reduce discretionary consumption between 7 pm and midnight.
The wider electricity market made the problem harder. On September 16, hydropower, solar and wind generation, assured supplies from central generating stations, and long- and medium-term contracts together provided about 81 million units. KSEB was able to obtain only about 3.5 million units from short-term power markets, leaving a large gap between available supply and demand.
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Kerala depends heavily on outside power
Kerala’s dependence on electricity procured from outside the state is not new. Interstate electricity trade is an essential part of India’s interconnected power system, and there is nothing inherently problematic about Kerala buying power from other states.
The vulnerability arises when the wider market is itself short of electricity.
The State Planning Board’s Economic Review 2025, using KSEBL data, records gross KSEBL generation of 7,393.77 MU in 2024-25. Power purchases at the Kerala periphery amounted to 26,286.3 MU. After accounting for open-access flows, auxiliary consumption and exports, total energy input to the Kerala periphery for meeting state consumption was 32,306.15 MU.
This procurement model gives Kerala access to the much larger Indian power system. It also leaves the state exposed when other regions experience simultaneous demand increases or supply constraints. That is what happened in September. The national power system was under considerable stress, while electricity available through the exchanges became harder to secure.
The policy implication is not that Kerala should try to become self-sufficient in electricity. It is that a state relying heavily on external procurement needs adequate diversity in its contracts, market access and dependable capacity within the state.
Hydro and solar have different limitations
Hydropower remains one of Kerala’s most valuable indigenous electricity resources because it can provide flexibility when solar generation is unavailable. But hydro generation depends on water availability.
By September 10, KSEB’s reservoir storage was reported at 63.75% of capacity, compared with 80.29% at the same point in 2025. Idukki, which contains Kerala’s largest hydropower reservoir, had recorded a 47% rainfall deficit during the southwest monsoon. By September 17, Kerala’s overall southwest monsoon rainfall deficit had reached 28%, according to IMD data.
Kerala has simultaneously made substantial progress in solar power. Total installed solar capacity reached 2,508 MW by the end of May 2026, of which about 2,036 MW was rooftop solar.
That expansion is valuable, but it does not by itself solve a shortage at 9 or 10 pm. Solar production is concentrated during daylight hours, while the most difficult period during the September crisis came after sunset.
The resulting mismatch is straightforward. Kerala can have more solar electricity during the day and still face a shortage several hours later. The missing link is the ability to shift some of that daytime energy into the evening, either through storage or through demand that can be moved to hours when supply is more abundant.
Storage can narrow the gap, but it is not yet enough
Kerala has begun building that missing flexibility. KSEBL’s 125 MW/500 MWh battery energy storage project at Mylatti in Kasaragod has been approved as a four-hour storage system intended to support peak demand. A further 125 MW/500 MWh of storage has been awarded across four substations. KSEBL has also awarded a 250 MW/500 MWh standalone BESS project at Brahmapuram.
These projects are important because they address the timing problem directly. But storage that is under construction or being commissioned cannot eliminate a shortage that has already occurred.
Pumped-storage hydropower offers another option for moving electricity across time, particularly where longer-duration storage is required. Its advantage is that it can provide substantial energy over longer periods; its disadvantage is that such projects take much longer to develop than battery systems.
Kerala therefore needs to think about firm capacity and flexibility together. The Central Electricity Authority’s resource-adequacy framework now includes a specific plan for Kerala extending to 2035-36. That framework is concerned with whether sufficient resources will be available to meet demand reliably, rather than simply whether enough generation capacity is installed.
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The planning question is about dependable power
The answer to Kerala’s power problem cannot be reduced to building more thermal capacity or adding more renewable generation. Different resources provide different services. Solar supplies electricity when sunlight is available. Hydro can provide flexibility when water conditions permit. Batteries can supply power for a defined duration but do not create energy. Thermal generation can provide dispatchable power, although its economics depend on fuel availability and operating costs. Long-term power contracts provide security but depend on the availability and terms of contracted supply.
Demand itself can provide some flexibility. EV charging, water heating, pumping and selected commercial and industrial processes can be shifted away from the evening peak. Time-of-day tariffs and smart charging can give consumers an economic reason to make that shift.
The objective is not simply to reduce electricity consumption. It is to reduce consumption when the system is under the greatest stress and encourage it when electricity is more readily available. Kerala’s own September measures recognise this principle by identifying 9 am to 4 pm as solar hours for demand-side management and asking consumers to avoid unnecessary use between 7 pm and midnight.
The September crisis therefore offers a useful test for Kerala’s energy transition. A renewable-heavy power system has to be planned around the timing of electricity as well as the quantity generated.
For Kerala, the more useful planning measure may increasingly be the amount of dependable and flexible capacity available during the evening peak, rather than installed generation capacity alone. Generation, interstate procurement, transmission, storage and demand response have to be planned as parts of the same system.
Rooftop solar does not compete with the need for firm power. They address different requirements. Solar can reduce daytime purchases and emissions; storage can move some of that energy into the evening; hydro can provide flexibility when reservoirs permit; demand response can reduce avoidable peaks; and dependable generation and contracted purchases can cover the remaining requirement.
Kerala’s September experience has shown that the state can have substantial generation capacity and still face an electricity shortage when the system cannot deliver enough power at the critical hour. The next phase of Kerala’s energy policy therefore has to focus as much on when electricity is available as on how much electricity the state can produce.
Pratima Pandey is Sustainability Consultant with EcoNAct Consulting, and Advisor, InfiSum Modeling Pvt Ltd.