Beijing and Shanghai face blackouts in deepening power crunch

[steveluv]

https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Beijing-and-Shanghai-face-blackouts-in-deepening-power-crunch?utm_campaign=GL_indo_pacific&utm_medium=email&utm_source=NA_newsletter&utm_content=article_link&del_type=11&pub_date=20210929053000&seq_num=29&si=44594

Beijing and Shanghai face blackouts in deepening power crunch
Rolling outages come as factories suspend work and water supply unstable

Power lines in Beijing: Planned power outages are believed to affect 10,000 residents in the capital.   © Reuters
SHUNSUKE TABETA, Nikkei staff writerSeptember 29, 2021 00:44 JST

BEIJING -- China has begun rolling blackouts in Beijing and Shanghai, metropolises home to 48 million people, as the country struggles with crippling power shortages that have hit key factories in a further threat to the economy. 

The Beijing office of State Grid Corp. of China said it will begin scheduled power outages in select areas through Sunday. Electricity will mainly be cut for a few daytime hours at a time.

The rolling blackouts will affect at least four districts in the capital. They include Xicheng and Dongcheng, which house government agencies and residences of top officials; Chaoyang, where many foreigners live; and Haidan, where several tech companies are located.

"The main purpose is to carry out regular equipment maintenance and upgrades to the power grid," State Grid said in a social media post Tuesday. "At present, the power grid in the capital has sufficient, stable and orderly supply."

The exact number of homes and business affected has not been disclosed. Some media outlets have reported that the blackouts cut through about 60 grid sections, which would translate to more than 10,000 people being without power. Beijing has a population of 22 million people.

The scheduled blackouts mainly target private residences, largely sparing factories.

"I've received no information about factories in Beijing suspending operations due to power rationing," said a source from a Japanese manufacturer operating in China.

Shanghai, home to 26 million people, will conduct rolling blackouts through Sunday as well. The national power shortage has caused suppliers of Apple and Tesla to suspend operations in Jiangsu Province, adjacent to Shanghai.

Factories run by Japanese manufacturers in Guangdong Province have been affected. 

Taking the brunt of the power shortage is China's Rust Belt region in the northeast. In Shenyang, a city in Liaoning Province, traffic signals have ceased to work, leading to congestions, according to media reports. In Jilin Province, Jilin City's water supply has been unstable and officials have called on citizens to stock up on water.

The biggest reason for the electricity shortfall is the waning operations at coal plants. The price of coal has risen by more than 30% from a year earlier, forcing coal-fired plants to reduce power output. 

President Xi Jinping has pledged to have carbon dioxide emissions peak out by 2030 and attain carbon neutrality by 2060. Local government efforts to attain those goals have factored heavily in the power shortages.

[kobayashiGT]

7 minutes ago, steveluv said:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Beijing-and-Shanghai-face-blackouts-in-deepening-power-crunch?utm_campaign=GL_indo_pacific&utm_medium=email&utm_source=NA_newsletter&utm_content=article_link&del_type=11&pub_date=20210929053000&seq_num=29&si=44594

Beijing and Shanghai face blackouts in deepening power crunch
Rolling outages come as factories suspend work and water supply unstable

Power lines in Beijing: Planned power outages are believed to affect 10,000 residents in the capital.   © Reuters
SHUNSUKE TABETA, Nikkei staff writerSeptember 29, 2021 00:44 JST

BEIJING -- China has begun rolling blackouts in Beijing and Shanghai, metropolises home to 48 million people, as the country struggles with crippling power shortages that have hit key factories in a further threat to the economy. 

The Beijing office of State Grid Corp. of China said it will begin scheduled power outages in select areas through Sunday. Electricity will mainly be cut for a few daytime hours at a time.

The rolling blackouts will affect at least four districts in the capital. They include Xicheng and Dongcheng, which house government agencies and residences of top officials; Chaoyang, where many foreigners live; and Haidan, where several tech companies are located.

"The main purpose is to carry out regular equipment maintenance and upgrades to the power grid," State Grid said in a social media post Tuesday. "At present, the power grid in the capital has sufficient, stable and orderly supply."

The exact number of homes and business affected has not been disclosed. Some media outlets have reported that the blackouts cut through about 60 grid sections, which would translate to more than 10,000 people being without power. Beijing has a population of 22 million people.

The scheduled blackouts mainly target private residences, largely sparing factories.

"I've received no information about factories in Beijing suspending operations due to power rationing," said a source from a Japanese manufacturer operating in China.

Shanghai, home to 26 million people, will conduct rolling blackouts through Sunday as well. The national power shortage has caused suppliers of Apple and Tesla to suspend operations in Jiangsu Province, adjacent to Shanghai.

Factories run by Japanese manufacturers in Guangdong Province have been affected. 

Taking the brunt of the power shortage is China's Rust Belt region in the northeast. In Shenyang, a city in Liaoning Province, traffic signals have ceased to work, leading to congestions, according to media reports. In Jilin Province, Jilin City's water supply has been unstable and officials have called on citizens to stock up on water.

The biggest reason for the electricity shortfall is the waning operations at coal plants. The price of coal has risen by more than 30% from a year earlier, forcing coal-fired plants to reduce power output. 

President Xi Jinping has pledged to have carbon dioxide emissions peak out by 2030 and attain carbon neutrality by 2060. Local government efforts to attain those goals have factored heavily in the power shortages.

are they going to build more dam? damn!

[Inlinefour]

just build nuclear power beside ROC HK and Macau can liao 

[Beregond]

8 minutes ago, kobayashiGT said:

 

are they going to build more dam? damn!

ya they are building even more dam. some 1 suggest a very crazy 1 that is bigger then the 3g dam. 

they over reliance on coal for too long, suddenly want to kick it. its like stopping a drug addict from taking drug.

they gonna have alot more blackouts before they can see the path to carbon neutral

[kobayashiGT]

Seems like President Xi will want his people to take up mandatory spinning class soon. 🤣

[Volvobrick]

They also stopped buying Aussie coal, so less supply means higher prices. 

[Beregond]

6 minutes ago, Volvobrick said:

They also stopped buying Aussie coal, so less supply means higher prices. 

their own coal production increase lol.

but at least they just sign an agreement to stop building coal plant outside china.

If i not mistaken china build the most coal power plant oversea. 

Edited September 29, 2021 by Beregond

[inlinesix]

17 minutes ago, Volvobrick said:

They also stopped buying Aussie coal, so less supply means higher prices. 

This is a scenerio of you die I die.

😂

[Vinyl]

 

1 hour ago, Beregond said:

ya they are building even more dam. some 1 suggest a very crazy 1 that is bigger then the 3g dam. 

they over reliance on coal for too long, suddenly want to kick it. its like stopping a drug addict from taking drug.

they gonna have alot more blackouts before they can see the path to carbon neutral

I don't think they are building more dams due to environmental concerns. They are focusing on solar power and nuclear power (using thorium).

And it's not just because they want to stop relying on coal suddenly. Climate change and coal rationing are only small reasons.

 

COVID-19 has given China so many orders due to production disruptions all over the world. All the orders are going to China. All the vessels are heading to China.
If you know how competitive Chinese companies are, they actually lower their prices to compete and grab all the orders as well as increasing production capacity and stockpiling goods in their warehouse. So, there you go, electricity consumption gone up significantly.

Now the real problems for factories: shipping rates have gone up significantly. Raw materials costs have gone up significantly, but prices have not due to over-supply.

So basically, they are not making money due to them accepting all the orders and now they faced electricity costs going up.

These are short-term increase in orders. Do you think the government wants to subsidise electricity prices or expand mining of coal for them?

So the answer is to get them to stop production for a few days depending on how severe it is. In some provinces, 2 days and in some, up to 8 days. 

 

What we are seeing now, is their short-term pain. They are still importing coal from Mongolia and Indonesia but they will probably focus on meeting households electricity demand rather than factories.

 

I want to stress that in China, they are not lacking in orders (if you don't believe, you try calling your contacts and ask). They are short of electricity. So, I don't know what you want to take from this.

 

We can mock at their plight but soon, they will raise their price and inflation will be passed on to the rest of the world. This is a short-term crisis not just for China but for the rest of the world.

[Thaiyotakamli]

1 hour ago, Beregond said:

ya they are building even more dam. some 1 suggest a very crazy 1 that is bigger then the 3g dam. 

they over reliance on coal for too long, suddenly want to kick it. its like stopping a drug addict from taking drug.

they gonna have alot more blackouts before they can see the path to carbon neutral

Soon winter comes

[Beregond]

12 minutes ago, Vinyl said:

 

I don't think they are building more dams due to environmental concerns. They are focusing on solar power and nuclear power (using thorium).

And it's not just because they want to stop relying on coal suddenly. Climate change and coal rationing are only small reasons.

 

COVID-19 has given China so many orders due to production disruptions all over the world. All the orders are going to China. All the vessels are heading to China.
If you know how competitive Chinese companies are, they actually lower their prices to compete and grab all the orders as well as increasing production capacity and stockpiling goods in their warehouse. So, there you go, electricity consumption gone up significantly.

Now the real problems for factories: shipping rates have gone up significantly. Raw materials costs have gone up significantly, but prices have not due to over-supply.

So basically, they are not making money due to them accepting all the orders and now they faced electricity costs going up.

These are short-term increase in orders. Do you think the government wants to subsidise electricity prices or expand mining of coal for them?

So the answer is to get them to stop production for a few days depending on how severe it is. In some provinces, 2 days and in some, up to 8 days. 

 

What we are seeing now, is their short-term pain. They are still importing coal from Mongolia and Indonesia but they will probably focus on meeting households electricity demand rather than factories.

 

I want to stress that in China, they are not lacking in orders (if you don't believe, you try calling your contacts and ask). They are short of electricity. So, I don't know what you want to take from this.

 

We can mock at their plight but soon, they will raise their price and inflation will be passed on to the rest of the world. This is a short-term crisis not just for China but for the rest of the world.

Building dam is part of the plan to go toward carbon neutral only.

i give  them 👍for having a plan and a target for it. 

But it won't  be at easy task.

[Beregond]

9 minutes ago, Thaiyotakamli said:

Soon winter comes

Every big country  got problems  with power supply. Just not long ago US power  cut and large area freeze. 

Now UK got petrol supply shortage. Cars stuck  on the road and need to refill  by jerry cans.

[Didu]

"Did someone say BLACKOUT??...knn, that's my job OK? You stay away from my power lines hor...last warning"  😁

Edited September 29, 2021 by Didu

[steveluv]

 

[Playtime]

On 9/29/2021 at 10:48 AM, kobayashiGT said:

Seems like President Xi will want his people to take up mandatory spinning class soon. 🤣

1.4 billion people cycling could generate lotsa power... new industry... very Mao 🤣

[Victor68]

COVID everyone stay home so use more power? Otherwise why suddenly insufficient if there is no change in generation?

[Mustank]

50 minutes ago, Playtime said:

1.4 billion people cycling could generate lotsa power... new industry... very Mao 🤣

Hope China make bicycle connected to washing machine