Power shortage hits southern China provinces

“Power demand is growing very fast and the region is faced with high temperatures and low precipitation,” China Electricity Council said in a statement on its Web site Monday. “Guangdong power grid faces unprecedented pressure.”

The shortage peaked at 5,210 megawatts and will last until after October when the shortfall will be 3,000 megawatts, the council said, citing a China Southern Power Grid Co. forecast. One megawatt of generating capacity run for 60 minutes produces one megawatt-hour of electricity, enough to power a 3,500 watt air conditioner for 286 hours.

Guangdong, China’s manufacturing hub, was among region’s that had a fourth consecutive year of power shortages in 2006 when demand for electricity to run air conditioners contributed to increased use during the warmest months. The nation’s economy expanded 11.9 percent in the second quarter of this year, the fastest pace in 12 years.

Southern Power Grid transmits electricity in the five southern provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and Hainan. State Grid Corp. of China, its bigger rival, covers the rest of the world’s second-largest energy consumer.

Electricity use in the five provinces in the first half of this year rose 16 percent, 4.7 percentage points more than a forecast Southern Power Grid made at the beginning of this year, the council said. Power sales surged 18 percent to 211 million megawatt hours, 7.4 percentage points more than forecast.

Southern Power Grid’s sales increased 17 percent to 115.3 billion yuan (US$15.2 billion) in the six months ended June, the council said. The U.S. uses more energy than China.

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