A citizen walks by a fountain amid high temperature in Minhang District of east China's Shanghai, July 10, 2022. Photo:Xinhua

Southwest China's Sichuan Province notified a large number of industrial enterprises in the province to suspend production for six days to guarantee people's livelihood, as high temperatures overstretched local power grid.

In a joint announcement released by Sichuan Provincial Economic and Information Department and State Grid's Sichuan Electric Power Company, the province will expand industrial power cuts to 19 cities and prefectures in the province, excluding Panzihua and Liangshan, from Monday to Saturday, the Securities Times reported on Monday.

The announcement said the decision was made due to a very tense electricity supply situation, and currently the priority ought to ensure electricity for residential use.

An office worker from Chengdu-based Tongwei Solar told the Global Times on Monday that the company received the power cut announcement on Sunday, and that it will "suspend operations from Tuesday to Saturday".

The company's production of silicon-related materials will be affected, but the specific extent needs to be assessed, the worker said, adding that the company took four days off last week.

Tongwei Solar has four bases across China, with three in Sichuan and one in Hefei in East China's Anhui Province, according to its official website. The company says it is the world's leading crystalline silicon solar cell company.

Hon Hai Technology Group told the Global Times on Monday that power restrictions at a Foxconn plant in Chengdu have had only a limited impact on production.

Foxconn's Chengdu factory is one of the places where Apple watches and computers are as-sembled. Foxconn assembles Apple's iPhones mainly at its Zhengzhou and Shenzhen facto-ries.

Local residents in Jiangyou city in Sichuan suffered a power outage on Saturday, with the local government confirming that is was due to the stressed power grid, because of continuous high temperatures there.

Due to a surge in demand for air-conditioning, State Grid Sichuan Electric Power Company said on August 3 thatit had sold 29.087 billion kWh of electricity in July, a year-on-year increase of 19.79 percent, setting a new record for a single month.

From July 4 to 16, Sichuan experienced an extend period of heat waves, and the maximum load of Sichuan power grid reached 59.1 million kilowatts, an increase of 14 percent over last year. The average daily electricity consumption by households reached 344 million kWh, a year-on-year increase of 93.3 percent.

The Sichuan Meteorological Observatory issued another high-temperature alert on Sunday, and it is expected that from Monday to Friday, the highest temperature in a large chunk of the province will reach between 35°C to 39°C, and some regions may hit 40°C or above.

China's energy regulator, the National Energy Administration, said in July that it would do its utmost to guarantee power supply, putting priority to ensuring residential use.

Global Times