China supercharges preparedness for massive power outages with first emergency drill of its kind
- Largest and most extensive joint exercise in eastern region aims to ensure that extreme summer weather will not cripple power grids and leave people in the dark
- Undertaking comes as China faces urgent need to protect manufacturing and industrial production amid a weaker-than-expected economic recovery
Bracing for the likelihood of a serious energy crunch during the hot summer months, China has staged its first-ever emergency drill to ensure it can handle large-scale power outages in its eastern region.
On Thursday, the National Energy Administration (NEA) and the regional governments of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Fujian carried out the drill, according to a notice posted on the agency’s website.
“This is the first time that the National Energy Administration has held an emergency drill for large-scale power outages across provinces and regions. It is also the largest, most extensive and most targeted joint emergency drill for power emergencies,” the notice said.
The East China Power Grid is the largest regional power grid, with the highest voltage level in China, according to the NEA, which estimated that the maximum power load of the grid could hit 397.25 million kilowatts this summer.
The situation involving power-grid security and supply protection is relatively severe
“The situation involving power-grid security and supply protection is relatively severe,” the NEA said.
The exercise took into account the “operating characteristics and main safety risks” of the East China Power Grid, the NEA said, adding that participants included about 30 departments, with energy-regulatory agencies, power grids and related power-generation companies, Shanghai’s underground rail network, hospitals and chemical companies.
Prior to the drill, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Wednesday arranged a teleconference with officials from the NEA; executives of the state-owned railway, coal and electricity sectors; as well as local government officials, to ensure a stable supply of electricity in the coming months.
China’s coal storage is at a record-high 187 million tonnes, forming a “solid” foundation to prepare for the summer peak season for power use, NDRC spokeswoman Meng Wei said at a press briefing on Friday.
Moving forward, “in accordance with the deployment requirements set forth in the teleconference, we will give full play to the role of the interministerial coordination mechanism for the guarantee of coal, electricity, oil and gas transport”, Meng said.
Earlier this week, Maoming city in southern Guangdong province asked industrial firms to reduce power consumption and enhance power-saving technology after recent record surges of electricity consumption.
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In May, China’s electricity consumption reached 722.2 billion kWh, a year-on-year increase of 7.4 per cent, the NEA said.
During the peak summer season this year, the overall supply and demand of electricity across the country will be “tightly balanced”, party mouthpiece People’s Daily reported on Thursday, citing an unidentified official from the China Electricity Council.
The council earlier said that China’s peak power consumption in 2023 was expected to reach about 1.37 billion kilowatts at once – a rate increase of about 80 million kilowatts compared with the peak level in 2022 – assuming there are no extreme-weather events.
“If there is long-term and large-scale extreme [weather], the national maximum power load may increase by about 100 million kilowatts compared with 2022,” the council said in its quarterly report in April. And this estimation was repeated by the official on Thursday.
