Heat wave in China forces factories to close

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A crucial question that we should all ask ourselves: are we really approaching the end of the world with the multiplication of disasters or are we saturated and put under tension by the flood of continuous information? After Covid, Ukraine, fires, storms, here comes the heat wave and its impact on industry. We learn that in China, the drought is causing electricity shortages in the province of Sichuan, which depends heavily on hydroelectric power. canicule chine coupure electrique On government orders, large factories in China’s Sichuan province have suspended operations for a week to relieve pressure on the power grid. The factories affected are mainly those of Toyota, Volkswagen, Texas Instruments, Foxconn but also Intel which has two assembly and testing plants in Chengdu.

The heat wave: the main reason for power cuts in China?

Of course, drought is widely mentioned as the cause of these concerns. The climate change is in all conversations in China (as in our country). But we should not forget that the global development of the country has led to an explosion of electricity consumption. The generalization of air conditioning is a concrete example. Studies show that the country consumes 68 times more electricity for air conditioning today than in 1990. Energy infrastructure and capacity have clearly not kept pace with growth. The recent heat wave has caused many people to increase the demand for air conditioning in their homes and offices…with the consequences mentioned above.

Canicule Chine
The U.S. will soon be overtaken by China, as the energy the U.S. spends on air conditioning only moderately increases while China explodes. Sources

At the same time, both Intel and Apple are looking to pull out of China to avoid the sanctions that the US and Chinese governments impose on each other. This situation could also suggest that the Chinese authorities have a heavier hand to cut Intel and Foxconn (Apple’s main subcontractor).