Shanghai will turn off decorative lights along its famous Bund riverfront for two days from Monday as a nationwide heatwave spurs electricity demand, city officials said. Several provinces have announced power cuts to cope with the surge in demand, driven partly by people cranking up the air conditioning to counter the high temperatures of 45 °C (113 °F). China has been hit by extreme weather this summer, including record temperatures, flash floods and droughts – events that scientists warn are becoming more frequent and intensified due to climate change.
To save electricity, Shanghai officials said in a notice on Sunday they would turn off “landscape lighting” at the city’s most famous landmark, the Bund.
According to the notice, decorative lights, billboards and video screens on both sides of the Huangpu River will be turned off on Monday and Tuesday.
A heat wave has reduced parts of the Yangtze River, China’s most important inland waterway, to unprecedented drought levels, according to official data.
This has resulted in high pressure on hydroelectric plants that supply electricity to some of the country’s major economic sectors.
These include Sichuan, where authorities on Sunday extended industrial power cuts and activated their highest level of emergency response to combat the heatwave.
“Since July this year, the province is experiencing the highest temperature ever, the lowest rainfall in the same period in history … (and) the highest power load in history,” local officials said.
Some of the world’s largest automakers – including Japanese giants Toyota and Elon Musk’s Tesla – operate factories in Sichuan.
The province is also home to manufacturers of parts that are vital to global auto supply chains.
Chinese news outlet Caixin reported that Sichuan power cuts forced several major factories to halt work, which were due to end on Saturday but were extended until Thursday.
Analysts have warned that Sichuan’s power crisis could have an impact on the wider Chinese economy and the international supply chain.
Hydroelectricity generated in the province supplies domestic consumers and factories, but also industrial powerhouse provinces Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
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