What lies behind this winter´s power shortage?

cctv.com 12-22-2003 15:11

Power shortage has been felt in a number of regions in China early this month with many cities suffering from intermittent blackout. What lies behind this winter's power shortage? And can it lead to a more severe power crisis In China?

Since early this winter, seven provinces in China have enforced blackouts in selected areas because their power grid fails to cope with all the demand. The power shortage has affected the lives of ordinary people as well as the production of enterprises, which have to rearrange their production in off-peak hours. The direct reasons include the dry spells, which plagued the country through out this year and caused a low water level. The situation has resulted that most of the country's hydroelectric plants are unable to operate to their full capacity, thus affecting the total electricity production.

According to official statistics, electricity consumption totaled 1,374 billion kwh in the first nine months this year, up over 15 percent over the same period last year. The growth rate for the whole year is expected to be around 15 percent. However, the power shortage this year has reminded us of the urgency to speed up the adjustment of the power production and industrial structure, as well as to promote energy conservation and sustainable social and economic growth.

In Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan province, the power shortage has affected the life of the citizens since early this month. The local grid corporation has been restricting electricity supply in certain areas to ensure the power grid won't break down. Some residents even began to buy small electricity generators. Some high power-consuming enterprises have been ordered to rearrange their production plans to avoid the peak-hours of power consumption. To different degrees, Changsha's various businesses have been slowed down by the power shortage. The city, once bright even at night, has now sunk into a dark silence.

Li Xiangqi, Official of Hunan Grid Corporation, said, "Power shortages have become an established fact. Under such a situation, one of the major measures we��ve taken is to exploit the load control system to adjust the power consumption of our users. We're trying the best to ensure limited power supply instead of total blackout."

Besides Changsha, many other provinces in eastern and southern are experiencing the same situation. A great number of enterprises in east China, where power shortages are most serious, have chosen to arrange their production in off-peak hours. In Zhejiang province, for instance, some enterprises start production in the early morning after 2:00 a.m.

Zhao Yuzhu, Deputy Director, National Dispatch and Communication Center of Electric Power, said, "We must face the fact that the power shortage this year resulted from the problem of imbalance. That is to say the users�� demand and electricity production cannot maintain a balance. As a result, switching off the power and limiting consumption is inevitable."

For various reasons, there are some problems with the power supply this year in China. One is the dry spell that have plagued the country throughout the year and caused low water levels in dams. As a result, most of the country's hydroelectric plants are unable to operate at full capacity. Some were even forced to shut down with no electricity output at all. Another one is the inadequate coal supply, which is caused partly by the rising price and inefficient coal transportation. Many thermal power plants, which constitute the bulk of China's power supply, are operating well below capacity.

Wang Yimin, Deputy Director, National Dispatch and Communication Center of Electric Power, said, "A majority of thermal power plants have coal reserves below the warning line. So the power grid was forced to take the measure of providing a limited amount of electricity for power plants or even stopping operation. According to our statistics, the total coal reserve stands at 11 million tons, down 2.7 million from the same period last year."

The State Development and Reform Commission has issued orders to relevant departments and enterprises to ensure sufficient coal supply to thermal power plants. The country's railway authority also promised normal coal transportation. Meanwhile, some power plants in northern China have been taking emergency measures to avoid the potential risk of power shortages in the many big northern cities, including the country's capital Beijing.

The Deputy General Manager of Northern China Grid Corporation, said, ��For now, we are prepared for emergency power switch off and limiting of orders and have put aside an extra reserve of 1.2 million kw of jagged load. In such a situation, we can ensure the reliable operation of the Northern China Grid Corporation. Meanwhile, we can ensure that the power grids in the cities of Beijing, Tianjin and Tangshan, especially the capital Beijing, can offer power safely and reliably."

The last few years have witnessed rapid economic expansion and a boom in fixed asset investment, which have boosted the chemical, construction material and metallurgical industries. But this has also caused the burden on the country's power supply to skyrocket, a trend that is expected to continue in the next two years. Some experts attribute the current situation mainly to the expansion of industries and insufficient power plant construction in previous years.

Chen Huai, Researcher of Development Research Center of the State Council, said, "In the past 2 years, the acceleration of growth in Chinese industry has been remarkable. This is one reason. Secondly, the consumption increase of ordinary people has also been remarkable. Ten years ago, ordinary people began to enjoy home appliances, for instance, TV sets and later, refrigerators. Now the ordinary people want to use air conditioners and electric heaters. It is noticeable that in the past people used air conditioners only in summer. What we didn't expect was that this year, people in Northern China and the Yangtze River area used electric heaters in winter for warmth and to get rid of dampness. However, it is a fact that the increase of our investment in the power industry and the speed of electricity production go on disproportionally."

In the past few decades, China has built a great number of large-scale and middle-scale hydroelectric plants. But the uncertainty of the weather means it is not possible to fully ensure the normal operation of these power plants, which rely solely on water reserves. Though thermal plants are another choice with a higher degree of reliability, the serious pollution caused by coal burning also puts limits on the use of this resource.

Chen Huai also said, "The problem brought by coal-produced power is that we're facing a new limit, called "sustainable development". After the successful bid by Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games and the bid by Shanghai for the 2010 World Expo, the most practical thing we promised the IOC is that by the year 2006, air quality will be improved to the world advanced level. And it's a necessity and presumption that the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be held on schedule. Furthermore, we're not improving our air quality solely for the IOC. The many large coastal cities should take the lead in their efforts to approach the modernization and internationalization of living standards. And this raises the problem of how to improve the environment. We have to use good quality energy with low pollution and high heat value to replace poor quality energy with high pollution and low heat value, more concretely, to replace coal. If we don��t burn coal, then what should we use? Given the shortage of oil, what should we use? It forces us to make a third choice, which means restructuring between new energy and traditional energy, namely, to develop nuclear energy."

China is one of the world's countries that adhere to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The Qinchuan nuclear power station was totally designed and constructed by Chinese scientists and engineers. However, added to the joint venture at Dayawan nuclear power plant near Hong Kong, the annual electricity production of nuclear plants accounts for less than 1 percent of the country's total power production. Making better use of nuclear energy can help meet the soaring demand for electricity in the years to come.

Chen Huai added, "From the long-term prospective, our great concern is that Chinese energy resources can't support the expanding overall economy. We do need a way out. But it cannot be solved solely by the market. It definitely can't be. However, the solution of short-term and regional imbalance between power supply and demand relies on the markets, which provide the best way out. Price is one of the market levers we can use to adjust the market in the short term, even tomorrow morning it can take effect. If supply becomes less than demand, the price will be raised. Then demand will be restrained and supply will be encouraged. Not only will the potential capability of supply be encouraged, the available supply will gain more compensation and will achieve higher growth. Right? This is the first measure. Secondly, if you lower the threshold for newcomers to enter the power industry, there will be more people and resources gathered in this field. Thirdly, with such a change, the market will nurture various new technologies."

Editor:Zhang Wenjie  Source:CCTV.com