Heat Wave to Test China’s Ability to Stabilize Its Coal Market
- Electricity council says massive power crunch will be avoided
- An improving economy revives industrial demand for power
Photographer: WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images
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China’s effort to stabilize its coal market will meet its biggest test so far this year as a heat wave grips the country and power consumption hits record levels across many northern and central provinces.
The air-conditioning has been switched on just as industrial demand for electricity revives after the reopening of Shanghai and easing of virus curbs elsewhere in the country. According to Fengkuang Coal Logistics, the power grid in the major coal-consuming province of Jiangsu dispatched more than 100 million kilowatts of electricity for the first time this summer on June 17 -- nineteen days ahead of last year’s pace.