Â
>>REAL-TIME UPDATES IN THE WIRE. CLICK HERE<<<
Â
Â
China’s power demand repeatedly breaks records and some regions are experiencing extreme hot weather and drought, said Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng on Wednesday, adding that China is now in a critical stage to ensure power supply in the summer peak season.
China needs to take effective measures to ensure energy and power supply to residents and key industries, provide a strong support for economic recovery, stable price levels and people’s livelihood, said Han when he visited the State Grid Corporation, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
China should accelerate the construction of key projects, improve power load management and promote the joint operation of coal power and renewable energy, Han added.
China is scrambling to ease power shortages and bring more water to the drought-hit basin of the Yangtze river as it battles a record-breaking heatwave by deploying relief funds, seeding clouds and developing new sources of supply.
Hydropower makes up about 80% of Sichuan’s power capacity, but dwindling water flows on the Yangtze and its tributaries led to a struggle to meet mounting demand for air conditioning as temperatures soared to 40C(104F) and beyond, according to the state broadcaster CCTV.
Average precipitation in Sichuan is 51% less than that of previous years, the report said, citing the provincial branch of State Grid.
Some reservoirs have dried up, after water from major rivers reduced by as much as half, it said.
Drought throughout the Yangtze river basin was also “adversely affecting” drinking water for rural people and livestock, as well as the growth of crops, the water resources ministry said in a notice.
It urged drought-hit regions to make plans to maintain water supply with steps such as temporary water transfer, the development of new sources and the extension of pipe networks.
To boost downstream supplies, China’s biggest hydropower project, the Three Gorges dam, will step up water discharges by 500 million cubic metres over the next 10 days, it said on Tuesday. Water flows there this week were about half those of a year earlier.
Some livestock from drought-hit areas had been temporarily moved elsewhere, the finance ministry said this week, promising disaster relief of 300 million yuan ($44.30 million).
In Southwest China’s Sichuan province, local government offices have been asked to set air conditioners no lower than 26 degrees Celsius and use more staircases instead of lifts, according to the local government-run Sichuan Daily. Fountains, light shows and commercial activities after dark are to be suspended, it said.
Dazhou, a city in Sichuan, said that if it’s unable to ease the ongoing power shortage even after it has made all possible efforts, it will restrict power use by residential users for two-and-a-half hours, according to a notice released by Dazhou Electric Power Group on Tuesday afternoon. Read more …
The city of Pengzhou, another city in Sichuan, will restrict power use by commercial users in order to ensure power supply to residential users and avoid outage amid the ongoing power crunch, reported The 21st Century Business Herald, citing a notice issued by the local authority.
On Wednesday, the central province of Hubei became the latest to unveil an effort to induce rainfall, by sending airplanes to fire the chemical silver iodide into the clouds.
Other regions on the Yangtze have also launched “cloud seeding” programmes, but with cloud cover too thin, operations in some parched areas have stayed on standby.
China’s heatwave has run for 64 days, making it the longest since full records began in 1961, state media said, citing data from the National Climate Centre.
As many as 262 weather stations have recorded temperatures of 40C (104F) and above, also the highest such tally. Eight have seen 44C (111F).
High temperatures will persist until Aug. 26 in the Sichuan basin and large parts of central China, the centre forecast.