Suzhou curbs production over damage to power grid

Suzhou, an industrial city in eastern China, told some companies to stop operating during peak hours after damaged cables and generators interrupted power supply, exacerbating shortages caused by the biggest heat wave this year.

Companies ordered to halt production between noon and 3pm and from 7pm to 10pm for three days starting Wednesday, the Suzhou government said on its Web site. It didn't give details of how the damage occurred.

Taiwan's BenQ Corp (明基電通) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), which have factories in an industrial park in the city's west, said they haven't been affected. The rival China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park is exempt from the order, Pan Yunguan, a park official, said in a telephone interview.

China experiencing its most severe power shortfalls since the 1980s, forcing plant closures in cities like Shanghai and Beijing. Average temperatures nationwide were forecast to reach as high as 37?C this week, according to the China Meteorological Administration, boosting demand for electricity to power air conditioners.

Demand power in Suzhou has become "abnormally high," with temperatures reaching 36?C in recent days, the city government said.

Power fell by about 600,000kw on Wednesday because generators in Jiangsu province were down, the statement said. The factory shutdowns will free up 100,000kw of power that will be re-directed for residential use, it said.

Power "guaranteed" to companies in the 70km2 park, said Pan, vice chairman of the administrative committee at the park.

At the Suzhou New District Hi-tech Industrial Park, Li Jiangtao, a human resources manager at BenQ, Taiwan's largest mobile phone maker, said production hasn't been affected.

"We have, of our own accord, implemented measures such as keeping the air conditioners at 26?C, telling employees to switch off computers when they leave and reducing the number of lights used," Li said. The company has its own generators for emergency use but hasn't had to use them, he said.

Asustek, the world's largest motherboard maker, is also running normally, said Bai Jiyi, a production manager. China's electricity output grew at its slowest rate in five months last month, rising 11.7 percent from a year earlier to 189.88 billion kilowatt-hours, the Beijing-based National Statistics Bureau said on its Web site this week. That's slower than growth of 14.3 percent in June.