Global Courant
BEIJING — Industrial cities and oil refinery towns in southern China are urging businesses and citizens to curb electricity, while Hainan province called for reduced power consumption during peak hours as power grids come under more strain from continued scorching hot weather .
Southern China has been battered by a combination of sweltering hot temperatures and heavy rainfall in recent weeks, with power loads approaching historic highs in several cities due to rising demand for air conditioning.
The growth rate of power consumption in Maoming city in southern Guangdong province was a whopping 8.01 percent from January to May, and residential electricity consumption increased by 27.41 percent in May from a year earlier, it said. city government in a statement on Monday.
The oil refinery city, whose power load broke records three times as of Monday, asked industrial companies to actively reduce power consumption and strengthen the transformation of energy-saving technology.
It also suggested that state-owned enterprises, residents and commercial venues set cooling temperatures to no less than 26 degrees Celsius, the statement said.
Jiangmen, another industrial city in Guangdong, also proposes to reduce unnecessary power consumption during the peak power consumption.
Meanwhile, government officials in Hainan province released a plan calling for reduced power consumption during peak hours as power consumption increases in the coming weeks. Officials said electricity consumption rose 11.8 percent year-on-year from January to April.
The power load in Hainan also climbed above 7 million kW for the first time in early June.
Earlier this month, power loads in key manufacturing centers in the south, including Guangdong, rose to historic highs. China Southern Power Grid, one of the country’s two grid operators, saw an output of 222 million kilowatts (kW), approaching historic highs.
China was hit by a record-breaking heat wave and drought last year, with widespread power shortages that led regions like Yunan to ration power consumption for aluminum producers.
Sweltering weather is expected in China’s northern regions in the coming days, the Chinese meteorological authority, state media reported. REUTERS
