BEIJING (Reuters) – The megacity of Hangzhou, home to some of China’s largest companies, banned all nonessential landscape lighting this week to conserve energy as extreme heat pushed up demand for electricity and air-conditioning and tested power grids.
Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Zhejiang province, will also suspend all light shows across the city of 12.5 million people through to Friday, local authorities said in a statement on Tuesday.
Known for its entrepreneurs and tech giants such as Alibaba and NetEase, Hangzhou has sweltered under temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) since Aug. 2 as eastern and southern China fight what local meteorologists call a “protracted war” with record high temperatures.
In nearby Shanghai, the maximum load, or demand, on its power grid exceeded 40 million kilowatts for the first time on Aug. 2 as heat waves boosted electricity consumption in the city of nearly 25 million people.
Shanghai leads the country in power load density, with the city’s core Lujiazui area consuming twice the power per square kilometre compared to New York’s Manhattan or Tokyo’s Ginza district, according to its grid operator.
As the maximum load on Hangzhou’s own grids clocked new highs, officials said they would implement a “practical” and “refined” power supply guarantee plan to ensure the normal operation of functional lighting at public spaces and safeguard the safety of nighttime travel.
Chinese meteorologists say the record heat in 2024 has been worsened by global warming despite the cooling effects of the La Nina weather phenomenon.
This year, China was hit by its warmest spring since 1961, followed by the hottest May that was followed by weeks of drought-like conditions in the central farmland region.
High temperatures in Shanghai and the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui may persist until Aug. 11, forecasters said on Tuesday.
Fatalities have been reported in neighbouring South Korea and Japan as powerful summer heat enveloped northeast Asia. China has yet announce if there have been any deaths from the extreme heat.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo; editing by Miral Fahmy)
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