Extreme heat has hit many areas including Sichuan Province, which is located in southwest China, and is also China's biggest hydropower producer. The province saw supply slump due to a long drought across the Yangtze River Basin in August. With the temperature gradually dropping and rainfall arriving in parts of Sichuan, the slump has been eased, and electricity power for general industrial and commercial activities in the province was fully restored on August 28, according to the State Grid Cooperation of China.

According to China's National Meteorological Center of China Meteorological Administration (CMA), the western and northern parts of the Sichuan Basin are expecting to see torrential rain. Due to the rainfall, the heat in areas around Sichuan and Chongqing will begin to fade starting August 29, and the consecutive hot days in southern parts of China are likely to end by August 31.

Zhao Hong, the director of Marketing Department of Sichuan Electric Power Company of the State Grid, noted the high temperatures led to a surge in air conditioning load, which has already dropped by about 12 million kilowatts as the temperatures decreased, and the daily electricity consumption of residents dropped from a maximum of 473 million kilowatt hours to 340 million kilowatt hours. Zhao indicates the contradiction between supply and demand of electric power will be basically resolved in the next three days.

(Cover image: The cross-river bridge in Mianyang City of southwest China's Sichuan Province./ VCG )

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