image source,Getty Images
To save electricity, famous landscape lights in Shanghai’s Bund and Little Lujiazui were temporarily closed on August 22 and 23. (The picture shows the data picture)
Continued heat and drought in China have left several provinces in a crisis of power shortages, affecting everything from the famous Shanghai landmark The Bund to the subway in the southwestern city of Chongqing.
The Shanghai authorities said that to save electricity, the landscape lights on the Bund will be temporarily turned off on August 22 and 23.
Large manufacturers in other parts of China, such as Sichuan in the west, told the BBC they were affected by the power outage.
The city of Chongqing has asked the city to enter a “power-saving mode,” and many subway cars have turned off their lights, leaving passengers with only cellphone lights.
image source,Getty Images
The famous Hongyadong scenic spot in Chongqing has turned off most of its landscape lighting due to power cuts.
Many places have also issued notices requiring shopping malls and office buildings to turn off air conditioners and lights, and some residential areas have also started rolling blackouts.
The China Central Meteorological Observatory continued to issue the highest-level high temperature red warning on August 22. Earlier, the National Climate Center of China said that the intensity of this round of heatwaves in China has hit the strongest level since records began in 1961.
China also issued its first nationwide drought warning of the year last week. The water level of the Yangtze River is currently at an all-time low. Parts of the Jialing River, the main tributary of the Yangtze River, rarely expose the riverbed.
China’s Ministry of Water Resources said that the water levels of the main stream of the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake were 4.85 to 6.13 meters lower than the same period of the previous year. The surface area of Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake has shrunk by three-quarters since June.
Sichuan electricity shortage
image source,Getty Images
Sichuanese play mahjong in the water to cool down.
With a population of more than 80 million, Sichuan is one of the most populous provinces in China and an important industrial base. Nearly 80% of the local electricity supply originally came from hydropower, and the local summer rainfall was very abundant in previous years.
But Chinese media reported that some of the province’s main hydropower plants have bottomed out due to the high temperature and drought this year, with the province’s hydropower generation capacity down by more than 50 percent. At the same time, high temperatures have led to a surge in electricity consumption.
Authorities first restricted industrial power use, and many large manufacturers said production was affected by the curbs. China Business News reported that Sichuan is one of the important production bases for China’s display panel industry. Previously, continuous power outages had caused related industries to maintain low-productivity operations.
German carmaker Volkswagen told the BBC that its factory in Chengdu, Sichuan, remained closed.
A VW spokesman said the company expects a “slight delay” in deliveries, but that this will resume “in the short term.”
Apple supplier Foxconn also closed its factory in Sichuan. Meanwhile, Japanese car giant Toyota told the BBC it was gradually resuming production in Sichuan “using in-house power generation”.
The impact has also affected the lives of residents. Last week, cities such as Dazhou announced that they would impose power rationing for residential users in their jurisdictions if the pressure on power supply is still unable to be eased.
image source,EPA
On August 21, the water level of the Jialing River, which flows through the main urban area of Chongqing, dropped sharply, exposing a large riverbed.
image source,Getty Images
Chongqing under high temperature
According to Chinese media reports, power outages in Dazhou’s urban area last six to seven hours a day, and many residents stay cool on the road late at night.
On social media, many netizens said they felt very difficult because they could not use air conditioners and fans because there was no electricity. Many people also reported suffering from heat stroke from the heat. According to reports, a hospital in Jianyang city under Chengdu saw 13 heat stroke patients in one day.
Since Sichuan is also an important transporter of China’s “West-East Power Transmission” project, it also supplies power to Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other provinces and cities. The power shortage in Sichuan has also put these coastal provinces under pressure on power supply.
Last week, a coordination letter from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization circulated on the Internet. The content showed that Shanghai authorities called on Sichuan to give priority to ensuring power supply to suppliers of auto companies SAIC and Tesla.
Chenyu Wu, associate analyst for China and North Asia at consultancy Control Risks, told the BBC that the impact of the outages could be short-term.
“Local efforts to conserve electricity and increase production in the coming weeks may help alleviate power shortages, especially if the long-awaited sweltering heat comes to an end,” he said.
wildfire
image source,Getty Images
In the heat and drought, forest fires broke out in Chongqing.
According to Chinese state media, forest fires have broken out in several areas in the southwestern city of Chongqing due to persistent heat and drought.
According to reports, the authorities dispatched more than 5,000 fire and military personnel to put out the fire, and also dispatched helicopters to put out the fire from the air. The fires in Jiangjin, Banan and other districts were brought under control on the morning of August 22, and there were no casualties.
China’s CCTV reported that this year was the worst “extremely sunny and high temperature weather” that Chongqing has encountered since 1961. The steep terrain and strong winds made it difficult to put out the fire.
In addition to Chongqing, wildfires broke out in Luzhou, Sichuan, Chishui, Guizhou and other places on August 21. Footage on social media showed that the sky near the wildfire area was red.