The government of Shandong said on August 3 that the northern coastal province is suffering its most serious power crisis in ten years with an electricity load gap of 12 million kWh. It warned that the power shortage may deteriorate and endanger the entire North China power grid.

A teacher in the provincial capital Jinan told The Beijing News on August 4 that since the end of June there had been regular lunch-time power cuts in all of Jinan's main commercial streets. Restaurants have installed their own diesel-powered generators. In her hometown of Weifang, her father's wedding photo business is being hit by weekly electricity blackouts. "We know all about the power supply problems in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but Shandong hasn't had problems like this for years," she said.

The summer power crisis has been caused by a shortage of coal. Almost all of Shandong's 58 power plants rely on burning coal. According to the Shandong Electric Power Corporation, average stockpiles at the province's power plants would last just 12 days. Many of the big power stations have only seven days worth of stocks.

The basic problem is the soaring price of coal. Squeezed between increased costs and government controlled electricity prices, power stations are finding all sorts of excuses to cut back on electricity generation, such as closing plants for maintenance.

The State Grid has provided Shandong with additional 750,000 kWh of electricity but drawing power from the national grid risks shifting power cuts to other areas.

The State Grid has said that if it feels it necessary to safeguard the integrity of the national grid, it will cut Shandong off from the North China Grid and leave it to fend for itself.

Liu Tienan, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said the NDRC has contingency plans to deal with power supply problems: areas suffering from power shortages must give priority to domestic supplies, hospitals, schools, railways, radio stations, coal and gas production; areas with adequate power supply should balance power supply and demand, and power supplies must be guaranteed for the Olympic Games and for reconstruction in the earthquake zone and other disaster hit areas.

Liu also said the power shortage shows that the country is relying too heavily on coal rather than exploring alternatives such as nuclear energy. He said the energy sector is finding it difficult to keep up with demand from China's booming industries.

(China.org.cn by Zhang Ming'ai, August 6, 2008)