What’s new: Southern China’s Guangdong is experiencing a surge of power demand as heatwaves hit the nation’s most populous province. Meanwhile, the supply of electricity is tightening as hydropower plants dry up in Yunnan, Guangdong’s major power source.
Electricity consumption in Guangdong has been climbing since the beginning of May as temperatures rise, according to the China Southern Power Grid. On May 22, the Southern Power Grid’s peak load topped 200 million kilowatts for the first time this year—35 days earlier than last year.
A tight power supply for Guangdong is on horizon as electricity exports from Yunnan, China’s biggest hydropower producer, have been declining in recent months due to low precipitation.
To ensure power supply, Yunnan ordered local aluminum producers since February to slash production to reduce energy consumption. It also reopened some coal-fired power plants that were idle for years.
The context: Guangdong consumes the most electricity among Chinese provinces to power its businesses and factories. About 16% of Guangdong’s power consumption relies on supply from Yunnan.
During the first quarter, Yunnan’s power exports to Guangdong declined 33.4% year-on-year to 10 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) as the southwestern Chinese province experienced the lowest precipitation in five years.
According to the Kunming Power Exchange Center, Yunnan planned to export 15.5 billion kWh of power in June while domestic consumption is estimated at 18.9 billion kWh.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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