Posted on 07/06/2005 7:36:38 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Shanghai on blackouts brink
July 6, 2005
Shanghai is on the verge of citywide blackouts with the 10th day of a heat wave sending electricity usage soaring to fresh peak records.
Loads reached a record 16.4 million kilowatts this week compared with a high of 15 million kilowatts last year, the Shanghai Morning Post reported Tuesday.
Although two new generators have come online since last year, raising capacity by 1.32 million kilowatts, there is not enough supply with temperatures hovering around 39 degrees Celsius.
With all city generating units running at full tilt and grids outside supplying an extra 4.83 million kilowatts to the city, excessive loads have been surpassed.
With air-conditioners accounting for much of the power usage, authorities have instructed government buildings, malls, offices, hotels and entertainment venues to set their air-conditioning dials to no lower than 26C.
Local manufacturers have been ordered to halt production and to rely on their own power generators.
The mainland is quickly expanding installed power capacity and adding transformers to meet rising energy demand sparked by a heat wave that has caused brownouts across the northern region.
A year after China faced its worst power crunch in two decades, North China Grid, a regional subsidiary of State Grid Corp, predicted peak demand in northern regions this summer to hit 78.8 gigawatts, up 19.5 percent from last year and 6.85 gigawatts beyond supply, the China Daily reported.
``A total of 4.6 gigawatts of installed capacity, or eight power generation units, will be added in [northern provinces] Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Hebei,'' Cui Jifeng, North China Grid vice president, was quoted as saying.
It recently completed 2.5 million kilovolt-amperes of transformer facilities to expand supply capacity in Beijing and other northern areas and will start building 24 transmission projects - each 500 kilovolts in size - within the year.
Generators nationwide are expected to crank out 25 to 30 gigawatts less than consumers want to use this summer.
High temperatures have baked northern China for days, with the mercury expected to hit nearly 40C in Beijing Tuesday and today.
Ping!
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