More than five million Chinese have suffered from recurring power cuts due to a heat wave that has hit the country for more than two months. Temperatures in southwest Sichuan province have soared above 40 degrees Celsius in recent days, which has soared electricity consumption — particularly for air conditioners — and crippled its supply, forcing some factories to shut down.
The region is heavily dependent on hydroelectric dams — which account for about 80% of its power generation capacity — but the heat wave has dried up the reservoirs, accentuating the scramble to meet growing demand.
A local power company said that Dazhou, a city of 5.4 million people in the northeast of the province, was intermittently receiving power on Wednesday. According to the Chinese newspaper The Paper, residents have faced cuts lasting up to three hours due to the extremely high load on transmission lines, which affects both urban areas and cities and towns in the region.
Several factories in Sichuan were forced to stop working after authorities ordered them to prioritize supply to residential areas. A notice published over the weekend ordered the suspension of industrial activities in 19 of the province’s 21 cities.
Among the affected factories is a joint company between Toyota and a Chinese company, which had to stop last Monday (15). The local press points out that the biggest manufacturer of batteries for electric cars, Contemporary Amperex Technology, also stopped its production in the city of Yibin.
Sichuan province concentrates half of China’s production of lithium, a necessary material for electric car batteries. The region also has numerous hydroelectric plants that supply the important industrial zones on China’s eastern coast.
This Wednesday (17), the local government said it would ration the supply of energy to homes, offices and shopping centers. Fountains, light shows and commercial activities after dark are also to be suspended. According to the Sichuan Daily, government officials were asked to set air conditioners to no less than 26 degrees Celsius and use more stairs than elevators.
The current Chinese heat wave has lasted 64 days, making it the longest since complete records began to be made in 1961. Several cities recorded the highest temperatures in their history. On Wednesday, the national meteorological observatory extended its red alert, the highest on a four-level scale.
China has warned that it will face a proliferation of extreme events in the coming years as it tries to adapt to climate change and temperature rises. According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, average rainfall in Sichuan is 51% lower than in previous years.
On Wednesday, Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng said more efforts were needed to secure energy supplies for homes and key industries. To get around the problem, China’s biggest hydropower project, the Three Gorges dam, will increase water discharges by 500 million cubic meters in the next ten days.
