China hungry for electricity this summer
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-04-11 09:21

All provincial power grids have set the ceiling of power use and sometimes shut off the supply, except northeast China's Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and south China's Hainan Province, according to the company.

This year the power demand across the country will exceed the supply by 30 million kw and the leading power consumers, east China's Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces and Chinese economic hub Shanghai, will run short of 17 million kw of electricity this year, the State Grid said.

The power shortage results from the rapid economic growth, said Ouyang Changyu, an expert from the State Grid.

The power use in heavy industries such as steel and metallurgy has grown fast in the first three months, he said.

The thin supply of coal and long lingering drought since last autumn also weakened the power generation, he added.

Ouyang suggested that power plants and grids closely work together to cope with such situation and avoid accidents while the facilities are overloaded.

The government should balance the supply and demand among different regions and curb the energy-hungry industries to take full advantage of present power supply, he said.

It should also encourage the public to save power, he added.

Close