BEIJING – China’s energy regulator expects maximum power load this summer to swell by more than 100 million kilowatts from 2023, threatening to strain supply in some regions, especially in harsh weather, it said on April 29.

The National Energy Administration (NEA) expects supply to be tight in the eastern, central, southern and south-western provinces and in Inner Mongolia, particularly if the weather proves extreme, officials told a press conference.

South-western forest fires in early 2024 have had a “serious effect” on the safe functioning of the power grid, said director Yan Xiuwen from the NEA’s office of power safety regulation.

A Feb 5 fire in the city of Liangshan, Sichuan province, forced the closure of three transmission lines, cutting 11.2 million kilowatts of hydropower capacity from the main grid, “greatly affecting the regional power balance”, the director added.

From Feb 17 to 22, a fire in Guizhou province forced the shutdown of as many as 14 high-voltage power lines, resulting in the suspension of operations by three power plants.

China’s State Council, or Cabinet, has told the NEA to guard against large-scale power outages, the director said, adding that it would participate in stepped-up fire prevention efforts by forestry and emergency officials. REUTERS