Shanghai Electricity Demand Hits Record High In Summer Heat

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SHANGHAI — "Electricity usage in Shanghai, China's financial hub, surged to a record 14.35 million kilowatt-hours on Monday as the city battled scorching weather and struggled to cope with power shortages, television said. That level came dangerously close to the maximum the city can pump out at any given moment, and companies may be ordered to stagger their working hours if the crisis persists, Shanghai Television said.

Temperatures in the eastern metropolis soared to a high of 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit), and residents and offices turned up their air-conditioning to beat the summer heat, highlighting the risk of a looming power crunch.

Shanghai's historic waterfront Bund was plunged into darkness on Sunday after officials switched off the dazzling coloured night illuminations as temperatures soared above 35 degrees. Turning off landscape lighting around the city could save as much as 30,000 kilowatt-hours a day, the Shanghai Daily reported. Shanghai is facing a power crisis just a year after a blistering heatwave last summer and resulting power shortages forced 1,000 firms, including multinationals such as Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE) and Polaroid, to curtail output.

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Temperatures are not expected to rise to the highs of summer 2003, but demands on power consumption are increasing as the city races toward what could be its 13th year of double-digit growth. Across China, a booming economy has stretched energy resources, and officials expect a power deficit of some 40,000 megawatts this year — enough to power 40 million homes."

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http://www.enn.com/news/2004-07-13/s_25759.asp