Chinese authorities have boosted emergency measures in reaction to excessive heat and a severe drought in the country’s southwest, which has caused cities to lower their lights, electric car owners to be unable to recharge their vehicles, and has pummelling the Chinese economy to death. According to the Financial Times.
A month-long heat wave that reached 43 degrees Celsius in Chengdu drained rivers and dams in the hydropower-dependent Hubei and Sichuan provinces.
Officials in Sichuan declared the situation a level 1 emergency, the highest possible level, and at least 50 mobile generators were deployed from neighbouring provinces to help stabilise local power supplies.
The authorities turned off power to a number of businesses, causing Toyota and Foxconn to suspend operations in the Sichuan Region, a region of 84 million people that is the epicentre of lithium mining and solar panel manufacture.
Local officials have extended the industrial power outage until Thursday, according to Lier Chemical, a Shenzhen-listed pesticide company.
Chongqing and Chengdu have been told to turn down the lights, and shopping malls and office buildings have ceased utilising bright outside advertising and elevators. In order to save energy, Chengdu office workers have been advised to set their air conditioners to 27 degrees Celsius.
Shanghai, which depends on hydroelectric power from the area, said last weekend that it would suspend its popular daily show on the Bund for two days.
Electric car owners in Sichuan and Chongqing have protested the closing of charging stations. On August 17, just two of Tesla’s 14 charging stations in Chengdu became live.
The scorching weather is expected to linger until the end of the month, putting further burden on the economy, according to analysts.
According to Jefferies analysts, the drought triggered a vicious cycle in which hydropower became scarce, causing the industry’s electrical generation to be shut off.
Sichuan is currently experiencing the highest weather and worst drought in 60 years, with hydropower resources down 51%, Morgan analysts wrote in a research note, adding that the situation was expected to deteriorate. At least till the end of August.
According to them, rising temperatures are generating a record spike in energy usage across 19 provinces.
Drought and rising temperatures in China reduce the chances of economic recovery.
About Author
