Power consumption goes up in Guangdong

As production resumes and temperatures soar, peak power loads have set records in Guangdong province, a major industrial area.

According to sources at China Southern Power Grid, Guangdong's peak power load reached 123.81 million kilowatt-hours on Tuesday, up 1.51 percent over the highest load recorded last year.

A kilowatt hour is a measure of electrical energy equivalent to 1,000 watts for 1 hour.

In Foshan, about 20 kilometers from Guangzhou, Guangdong, peak load grew 1.65 percent from last year's highest figure to hit more than 13 million kilowatt-hours on Tuesday. Dongguan's highest power load was 16.93 million kilowatt-hours, up 1.8 percent from last year's highest point.

Other major cities, including Huizhou, Jiangmen, Zhongshan, Shantou, Zhaoqing, Qingyuan, Yangjiang, Meizhou,Shenzhen, Jieyang, Chaozhou and Yunfu have also reached record power loads, increasing the pressure on electrical supplies to the southern province, according to a statement released by China Southern Power Grid on Wednesday.

In the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, the city consumed more than 9.74 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in June, a year-on-year growth of 6.03 percent.

Guangdong province consumed more than 67.9 billion kilowatt hours of total electricity in June, up by 7.55 percent year-on-year.

It was the second month in a row that Guangdong has witnessed growth in electricity consumption, the statement said.

Despite being held back by the COVID-19 pandemic, Guangdong consumed about 296.5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity from January to June.

Electrical supply departments attributed the big growth in consumption to the resumption of factories and the heavy heat wave that has enveloped the province over the past two months.

To ensure the smooth and safe operation of the power grid, China Southern Power Grid has expanded investment to upgrade power transmission and related grid facilities in recent months.

Guangzhou Electricity Supply Bureau alone has, so far, invested more than 1.3 billion yuan ($185.71 million) to complete construction of 815 electrical transmission projects.