South China's Guangdong Province is in the grips of a power
shortage.
"The shortage surpassed 4,000 megawatts at its peak in April. We
had originally expected only 2,550 to 3,690 megawatts," said Yang
Xinli, director of the Guangdong economy and trade commission's
power resources division.
"The case is even more serious in the boomtowns of the Pearl
River Delta region."
The official said the situation is so serious in Guangzhou that
several red alerts had been issued since early this month. Many
businesses in the city's key industrial zones have had to suspend
production to ease the pressure on the city's power system.
The situation is the same in other cities in the delta, Yang
said, adding that from April to June, the city of Foshan would
probably experience a shortage of 800 megawatts, and Shenzhen a
shortage of 1,000 megawatts.
The official attributed the power shortage to delays in the
operation of several power-generating stations, inadequate
rainfall, a gas shortage, provincial efforts to shut down small
power plants to curb pollution and the rapid pace of economic
development.
Yang said his division was working with the China Southern Power
Grid Company to come up with measures to deal with the power
shortage.
Huang Jianjun, a senior executive with Guangdong Power Grid
Corp, the local branch of China Southern Power Grid, said the
company's head office had been working to overcome the shortfall in
Guangdong by importing energy from Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi. The
company has diverted 1.07 gigawatts since early this month, 1,030
megawatts more than a year ago.
Huang said China Southern Power Grid is in talks with the State
Power Grid to buy power generated at the latter's Three Gorges
project. The company will continue to buy power from Hong Kong, as
well.
"Guangdong's power supply will improve starting this year," he
said. "Several new massive power-generation projects will become
operational in the province, and the amount of power drawn from the
nation's western regions will increase."
Power-generating stations with a combined capacity of 2,970
megawatts recently went into operation, and several other projects
with a combined capacity of 12,000 megawatts will become
operational in the province later this year, he said.
(China Daily May 29, 2007)