Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Drought roiling China’s already evaporating economy

 Factories in southwestern Sichuan are expected to close until Thursday because of the heat and drought expected from the country's recent global supply chain crisis.


Overseas manufacturers such as Apple and Toyota and Chinese solar power producers plan to resume production on Sunday after a six-day shutdown. But local authorities declared a Level 1 emergency and forced the factory to close on Sunday due to bad weather.


About 16,500 businesses in Sichuan province were affected by the power outage. Some Chinese media said the problem could cause factory shutdowns in industrialized cities on the East Coast, but scientists believe last September's nationwide blackout will not be repeated this year. Over the past two decades, China has developed hydro, wind and solar power in the western region to provide cheap electricity to industrial cities in the eastern region. Sichuan Province, located along the Yangtze River, has about 1,400 branches, so several hydroelectric plants were built to supply 80% of the electricity consumed, and the surplus electricity was sold to neighboring provinces. Reservoirs in Sichuan were down 40% in July and 50% in August from last year, and many parts of the world were affected by July's hot and dry weather. State-owned Sichuan Power recently announced that its capacity had been cut in half due to heat and drought. The National Meteorological Center of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) has issued a red high temperature warning for four provinces that have exceeded 40 degrees Celsius for 28 consecutive days in the past 48 hours. .. Between July 20 and August 17. From June 1 through August, the national average high temperature was 12 years, the highest since 1961. Usually this indicator is about 7 days. On August 14, the Sichuan government ordered the shutdown of all factories and air conditioners in shopping malls and public facilities from August 15 to 20. On Sunday, he extended this period until August 25. Factories hit last week included Taiwanese iPod and Apple Watch maker Foxconn and BOE Technology Group Co Ltd, which supplies Apple with flat-panel LCD and OLED panels. Toyota Japan has announced that sales in mainland China will be affected until production resumes. In an article on Saturday, IT analyst Yuan Xilai said Sichuan solar power producers Tongwei, Contemporary Amperex Technology, JinkoSolar and GCL New Holding could disrupt global supply chains. Yuan Sichuan said it is difficult to diversify or expect coal energy in a short time. Lee Junfen, a member of the China.com Energy Research Association of Yica.com.com, is not normal for Yangz water level, not from the beginning of August. From November and April. . Lee said it was the fastest dry season since records began in 1951. He said it would be difficult to bring power back to Sichuan from other regions because the grid was designed and built to transmit surplus power from Sichuan to other provinces. In places that rely heavily on wind, solar and hydropower, energy can easily influence the weather, he said. He said that in order to supply power to Sichuan Province, more energy storage units must be built. Sichuan Province and the neighboring city of Chongqing experienced another extreme weather event in the summer of 2020 when the Yangtze River overflowed. The storm hit several residential and agricultural areas downstream and damaged 2.4 km of the Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze River in Hubei Province. Water Minister Li Guiying said on Saturday that the drought in the southwestern region and warmer weather in China will continue until next week. He said the government has formed a drought response task force to provide water to cities along the Yangtze River. He said: There will also be flooding in the northwest and upstream of the Zard River during heavy rains. According to media reports last week, parts of Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces ordered factories to partially shut down production to conserve electricity. It is unclear whether the order will be extended. Jin Xiangdong, a spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission, said on August 16 that the decline in hydropower will increase demand for coal-fired power plants. Currently, China fights coal and produces 60%of electricity. In July, electricity production increased by 4.5%and charcoal -5.3%. In September last year, China resisted the national energy crisis, and the power plant was placed in the middle of the coal and power plants, which was dislocated without irritating the market. In a few months, the central government stabilizes internal coal reserves and grows. The university is a member of Jiangsu University, Renmin University, the National Energy Commission and the National Energy Commission, said the government should continue to increase the number of coal suppliers after the power shortage problem in Sichuan.

Drought roiling China’s already evaporating economy

 Factories in southwestern Sichuan are expected to close until Thursday because of the heat and drought expected from the country's rece...