Monday, 21 Dec 2009
Reuters reported that a cold spell across northern and central China has reduced supplies of electricity and natural gas to cities including Wuhan and Hangzhou with coal shortages exacerbating the problem in the central province of Hubei.
Output from small coal mines generally falls in winter and safety crackdowns and forced consolidations might have further reduced supply from private mines. A cold front has increased demand, pressuring the relatively new supply of natural gas.
Local sources told Reuters that nearly 2.4 GW or some 17% of coal fuelled power generating capacity in Hubei province has been shut due to coal shortages and more is at risk of being closed.
Mr Yu Guohua a spokesman of Wuhan Natural Gas Co told the Xinhua news agency that Hubei's capital Wuhan has a daily shortage of 400000 cubic meters of gas.
Xiang Min an official with Hangzhou Gas Group told Xinhua that to its east, Hangzhou capital of Zhejiang Province had a shortage of natural gas for the second time this winter, with the shortfall totaling 170000 cubic meters of gas.
Hubei province has cut electricity and gas supplies to industrial and commercial users. Power blackouts are likely to re emerge after the power crunch in the summer of 2008.
One source that has access to the data, coal stocks in Hubei power plants connected to grid networks have now fallen to less than 1 million tonnes and the decline is continuing.
Hubei has around 44 GW of power generating capacity, but two thirds of it comes from hydropower plants which generate less power in the winter season.
In addition, some hydropower output, including a big portion from the massive Three Gorges Power Station, is contracted to be transmitted to regions outside Hubei.
Another source who is close to a local grid operator said that power shortages in coming weeks could rise to as high as 4 GW or nearly a quarter of current maximum power load in the province.
The Shanghai Securities News reported that with power demand surging in the winter, coal stocks in 349 power plants across China have decreased to around 27 million tonnes or barely enough for 12 days of generation, while stocks in power plants in near the northern cities of Beijing, Tangshan and Tianjin have declined to levels just sufficient for six days of use after temperatures dropped well below freezing.
(Sourced from Reuters)
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