(Yicai Global) Aug. 29 -- The electricity shortage in southwestern Sichuan province that has caused production in the photovoltaic and other key sectors to grind to a halt is recovering as temperatures fall and rainfall returns, State Grid Electric Power said yesterday.

As of noon yesterday, Sichuan’s general industrial and commercial electric power supply had resumed, but large-scale industrial electricity supply has yet to be fully restored, China National Radio reported today.

Cooler temperatures led to the air conditioning load almost halving yesterday from the record high, the State Grid said. And residents’ electricity consumption fell 28 percent to 340 million kilowatt hours from a peak of 473 million kWh on Aug. 27. Daily hydropower generation has increased 9.5 percent to 460 million kWh from the previous low. But capacity remains limited as it will take time for water levels to recover.

The local government was forced to cut power to enterprises in order to prioritize residents as the province faced the most extreme heat, lowest rainfall and heaviest power load in history from Aug. 7, China Central Television reported earlier.

Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan, started to switch off advertising boards and other outdoor illuminations in mid-August to save power. Many normally colorfully lit-up shopping malls were plunged into darkness and subway stations were only half-lit.

Eighty percent of Sichuan’s electricity comes from hydropower plants and high temperatures and droughts have caused a significant fall in river water, Zhou Jian, deputy chief engineer at State Grid Sichuan’s regulation and control center, said previously. Some major plants have bottomed out, halving provincial hydropower capacity, he added.

The load shedding had a big impact on manufacturing, especially in the chemicals, electronics and solar sectors. The province is one of China’s biggest PV and semiconductor wafer producers, accounting for 14 percent of the country’s total. Battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology, electronics components producer BOE Technology Group and green energy project developer GCL Energy Technology were among those that had to shut down plants.

Editor: Kim Taylor