Power Crunch in Sichuan Adds to Manufacturers’ Woes in China

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On Sunday, the Chinese province of Sichuan activated its highest emergency response to deal with extremely outstanding power supply deficiencies.

The southwestern province said in a statement on Sunday that there have been gaps in power supply due to extreme high temperatures and low precipitation. The power shortage will be minimized by the local government.

After introducing an energy supply contingency plan in January, this is the first time a top level emergency response has been initiated. The plan includes starting emergency generators to first meet power demand and maximize output of oil, gas and coal.

One of China's most populous provinces is home to a key manufacturing hub for electronic vehicle cells. Plants in the region have been closed for several days.

The country's adherence to Covid Zero is being challenged by the power shortage. The manufacturing sector has been affected by that.

Jinko Solar said that two of its plants in Sichuan have been affected by the power shortage and are running at protective levels. The company doesn't know when the units can resume full capacity and the limit will affect its earnings.

According to local media reports, some office buildings and shopping malls have adjusted air conditioning, lighting, and escalators to save power. Landscape lighting was suspended for Monday and Tuesday in order to save electricity.

According to the energy contingency plan, a Level 1 emergency response allows it to seek help from the state council to manage the crisis, and increases the frequencies of communications between energy suppliers and the province.

The current peak load of electricity was 65 million kilowatts, an increase of 25% over the previous year. Water inflow for hydro power generation more than halved and the main reservoirs that secure power consumption of load centers have reached dead storage level.

There has been no rain for 15 days in Chengdu and 18 days in Chongqing. There was no rain this month in the cities ofNanjing andNanchang.

Zhe and Fran Wang assisted.