(Yicai Global) Dec. 23 -- Power management departments in Guangzhou and Shanghai yesterday denied they will follow the lead of some Chinese provinces by taking measures to limit electricity use as power loads set new records.

Both departments said supply is adequate and the network is running smoothly.

The so-called ‘blackouts’ in some areas described in online posts are actually regular measures taken for routine maintenance and repairs of power equipment to ensure the grid’s safety during peak hours, State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power said in a statement yesterday.

Shanghai’s maximum power load is expected to be 27.5 million kilowatts this winter, and the figure may rise further to 28 million KW under extreme weather conditions, per the statement. In spite of this, the firm said it can supply the city with electricity for production and living.

Guangdong Power Grid’s unit Guangzhou Power Supply Bureau said equipment glitches hit power supply to some customers in Baiyun district’s Sanyuanli and Luochongwei in the early hours of Dec. 21. After more than an hour of emergency repairs, power was restored to all affected consumers, it said, adding that the Guangzhou power grid is running stably, with no peak load shifting and brownouts. The power supply is balanced with no electric load gap.

Since the fourth quarter of this year, with social and economic recovery, Guangzhou’s electricity consumption and power load has remained high. The local grid’s maximum load has hit 13.71 million KW so far this month, 9.57 percent more than the peak last December.

Xinhua News Agency quoted the head of the Guangzhou Power Supply Bureau’s dispatch control center as saying that as temperatures continue to fall and heating loads are released, the electricity demand during specific hours in Guangzhou will increase, with the maximum load likely to be close to 14.5 million KW.

China’s electricity supply is being stretched by the early arrival of a harsh winter, driving people to crank up the heating, and a better-than-expected rebound in factory output. The resulting shortfall has led to power rationing in central Hunan and eastern Zhejiang provinces.

Addressing mounting concerns, an official at the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top planner, said on Dec. 21 that China can guarantee its own energy supply.

Editor: Peter Thomas