Shanghai leads the country in power load density, with the city’s core Lujiazui area consuming twice the power per square kilometre compared to New York’s Manhattan or Tokyo’s Ginza district, according to its grid operator.
As the maximum load on Hangzhou’s own grids clocked new highs, officials said they would implement a “practical” plan to ensure the normal operation of functional lighting in public spaces and safeguard the safety of night-time travel.
Chinese meteorologists say the record heat in 2024 has been fuelled by global warming despite the cooling effects of the La Nina weather phenomenon.
This year, China was hit by its warmest spring since 1961, followed by the hottest May that was followed by weeks of drought-like conditions in the central farmland region.
Maximum daily temperatures of 37 to 39 degrees Celsius, and even above 40 degrees Celsius, are expected to hit parts of Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Zhejiang through Sunday.
The heat coincides with the harvest of the early-season rice crop in those provinces, spurring calls for increased irrigation to keep fields cool.
Fatalities have been reported in neighbouring South Korea and Japan as powerful summer heat enveloped northeast Asia. China has yet to announce if there have been any deaths from the extreme heat.
