Chinese megacity limits outdoor lighting as record heat strains grid

NetEase

06/08/2024 08:00

BEIJING, Aug 6 (Reuters) - The megacity of Hangzhou,
home to some of China's largest companies, banned all
nonessential landscape lighting this week to conserve energy as
extreme heat pushed up demand for electricity and
air-conditioning and tested power grids.  
    Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Zhejiang province, will
also suspend all light shows across the city of 12.5 million
people through to Friday, local authorities said in a statement
on Tuesday. 
    Known for its entrepreneurs and tech giants such as Alibaba
 9988.HK  and NetEase  9999.HK , Hangzhou has sweltered under
temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees
Fahrenheit) since Aug. 2 as eastern and southern China fight
what local meteorologists call a "protracted war" with record
high temperatures. 
    In nearby Shanghai, the maximum load, or demand, on its
power grid exceeded 40 million kilowatts for the first time on
Aug. 2 as heat waves boosted electricity consumption in the city
of nearly 25 million people. 
    Shanghai leads the country in power load density, with the
city's core Lujiazui area consuming twice the power per square
kilometre compared to New York's Manhattan or Tokyo's Ginza
district, according to its grid operator. 
    As the maximum load on Hangzhou's own grids clocked new
highs, officials said they would implement a "practical" and
"refined" power supply guarantee plan to ensure the normal
operation of functional lighting at public spaces and safeguard
the safety of nighttime travel. 
    Chinese meteorologists say the record heat in 2024 has been
worsened by global warming despite the cooling effects of the La
Nina weather phenomenon. 
    This year, China was hit by its warmest spring since 1961,
followed by the hottest May that was followed by weeks of
drought-like conditions in the central farmland region.
    High temperatures in Shanghai and the provinces of Zhejiang,
Jiangsu and Anhui may persist until Aug. 11, forecasters said on
Tuesday.     
    Fatalities have been reported in neighbouring South Korea
and Japan as powerful summer heat enveloped northeast Asia.
China has yet announce if there have been any deaths from the
extreme heat.  

 (Reporting by Ryan Woo; editing by Miral Fahmy)
 ((Ryan.Woo@thomsonreuters.com;))