As temperatures climb, demand for power rises as homes and businesses crank up air-conditioning
Pedestrians in Pudong's Lujiazui Financial District in Shanghai, China on Monday, June 20 2022. Picture: BLOOMBERG/QILAI SHENPower consumption surged in large Chinese provinces north of the Yangtze river amid warmer-than-normal weather, with regions like Henan, China’s third-most populous province, challenged by record electricity demand.
While the provincial grid was able to cope with the heavy demand, electricity supply in Henan is expected to be relatively difficult this summer, according to the report, with the maximum load seen rising further to nearly 75-million kilowatts. Temperatures in Henan’s capital Zhengzhou, where major Taiwanese Apple supplier Foxconn has a production hub, have reached 40ºC in recent days.Prolonged periods of high temperatures could force China to limit, stagger or ration power consumption of industrial users during peak periods.
“For this region, it is rare to see such persistence and intensity in high temperatures at this time in June,” it said.