Page 6 - AsiaElec Week 34 2022

AsiaElec CLIMATE CHNAGE AsiaElec

China faces power

cuts and drought

CHINA PARTS of China are facing a major electricity The shortages in Central China come as parts
shortage as temperatures reach record highs of the country reach record temperatures. The
and drought takes the country’s hydro capacity city of Beibei hit 45°C for two consecutive and
offline some places not falling below 34°C at night.
The Central China Grid said that its peak load Meanwhile, it was reported that the city of
had fallen to 190 GW on August 23, compared Chongqing reported 34.9°C during the night,
to a seasonal norm of 260GW, which would be making it the hottest August night in Chinese
available if hydro and coal capacity was operating history, meteorologist Scott Duncan said in a
as normal. About half of the country’s half of the tweet.
hydro capacity is currently offline. The high temperatures in Chongqing meant
Meanwhile, water levels in the Yangtze River that river water levels had dropped, revealing
are low, with water flows up to 50% below usual previously submerged Buddhist statues thought
levels, lowering hydro output and impeding sup- to be 600 years old.
ply chains dependent on shipping movements. The city also posted a record high of 43.7°C,
Lauri Myllyvirta, Lauri Myllyvirta, lead while the city of Chishui in Guizhou Province
researcher at Centre for Research into Energy posted 43.2°C. The city of Shanghai also posted a
and Clean Air (CREA), said that weather events, record high of 40°C
or more accurately, our new normal climate, is The droughts and power shortages raise the
challenging the grid through increased use of air fear that China could use more coal to meet
conditioning and more unpredictable rainfall. demand.
“The shortages will speed up reforms to grid Iris Pang at ING Bank noted that:” The tem-
operation and planning. This happened already porary solution is to use more coal power to sup-
as a result of the widespread shortage last sum- plement existing power generation capacity. This
mer,” he said in a tweet. is also the reason why not many cities are ration-
He noted that the province of Sichuan and ing power. This, of course, is not a good solution
Yunnan in central China have been unable to as coal generates more CO2. But right now, with
source power from other areas because of poor temperatures so high, residents need to use their
grid connections and strict contracts requiring air conditioners.”
the provinces to export what hydropower they However, the drought could also stimulate
produce to consumers on the East Coast. more green investment.
In normal times, Sichuan usually sends excess “China’s commitment to becoming carbon
electricity to the east side of China, including neutral by 2060 is not going to change. In fact,
Shanghai and Hangzhou. it could now be accelerated with the drought
However, grid officials now have to ask for encouraging China to push forward the technol-
electricity from the Three Gorges dam, which is ogy of generating and using renewable energy,”
located in Hubei, part of Central China grid area, she said.™
but whose output is usually ring-fenced for the
rest of China.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 34 24•August•2022