Cooler southwest China resumes regular power supply: State Grid

BEIJING, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Power supply to large-scale industrial and commercial enterprises has become normal in southwest China's Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality where persistent heatwave had caused severe power shortages this summer.

As temperatures dropped, the demand for air conditioning has plunged sharply, the State Grid Corporation of China said on Tuesday.

"The municipality now has sufficient power supply, and the imbalance of power supply and demand has eased," said Li Jun, who works in State Grid's Chongqing branch.

Data also shows that the peak load in Sichuan has declined from 65 million kilowatts to 48 million kilowatts.

"As water flows in major river basins have increased, the daily hydroelectric power generation in Sichuan has risen to 520 million kilowatt-hours (kWh), up 23.8 percent from the lowest level registered in recent days," said Luo Xiaoyi, a spokesperson for State Grid's Sichuan subsidiary.

Sichuan's power generation and supply capacity are now able to meet demand, and supply has essentially recovered, Luo added.

Daily electricity consumption by large-scale industrial enterprises in Sichuan increased to 350 million kWh on Aug. 29 from 156 million kWh on Aug. 22, while residential electricity consumption dropped to 277 million kWh from 473 million kWh daily in the same period, indicating the rapid resumption of industrial production, State Grid said.