Unprecedented Heat, Record Electricity Consumption: How China’s Power Grid Held Up Under Pressure

This week, the hot weather led to unprecedented electricity consumption, with output reaching new records. On April 26, consumption reached nearly 1 billion kWh, just short of the record set the previous day. The Electricity Regulatory Authority reported that average daily consumption had increased by 65.4 million kWh compared to the previous week, with the North seeing the highest increase at more than 31.7 million kWh per day.

Throughout the week, new records were set in various categories. The country’s largest capacity demand reached 47,670 MW on April 27, and national power system capacity increased by 20.2% compared to the same period last year. Output on April 26 rose by an impressive 23.1%, with the North seeing a particularly significant increase of 35.5%.

From January until now, nationwide electricity consumption demand has grown by about 11.2%. Despite this growth, supply remained guaranteed throughout the week thanks to efficient operation of hydroelectric reservoirs and other measures taken by the regulatory agency. The average daily production output for the week was around 175 million kWh, which is below average but still sufficient to meet demand during peak hours.

To meet demand during peak hours and maintain water levels for irrigation and electricity generation, coal thermal power units were mobilized with an output of approximately 557 million kWh per day. Gas thermal power sources and renewable energy sources were also utilized to ensure a stable electricity supply throughout the week without any generating units stopping due to coal shortages or incidents declining in capacity or performance during this period.

Looking ahead, there is hope that the heat will decrease in intensity in coming days with rain and thunderstorms forecasted in many places across China’s three regions: North China will see a gradual decline in temperatures from now until June while South China will witness a drop from May until July; East China expects a drop from May until September.

The regulatory agency will closely monitor peak capacity and electricity demand in all three regions to ensure supply stability even during bad weather conditions.

In addition to monitoring weather conditions and ensuring stable supply during peak hours; plans are being considered to use oil sources when necessary and support new power plant testing.

Overall, despite unprecedented heat waves this year leading to unprecedented electricity consumption records; China’s power grid managed well under pressure thanks to proactive measures taken by its regulatory authority beforehand – ensuring uninterrupted supply throughout