Heatwave plays havoc on nation’s power grid

Beating the heat: Children playing in a water fountain to cool off on a hot summer night in Beijing. Temperatures are expected to hit 40°C in some parts of the country. — Reuters

Guangdong: The searing heat that has gripped China for over a month has boosted power generation to a record high in southern regions, leading to outages in some places as demand for air-conditioning strains the network.

China Southern Power Grid Co, the country’s second-largest operator supplying five provinces, said soaring demand lifted power generation to a record 223 gigawatts on Monday, 3% higher than last year’s peak load, according to a posting on WeChat.