Chinese city dims lights to save power amid heatwave
China
Chengdu, provincial capital of China's Sichuan province, has decided to dim outdoor advertisements, subway lightings and building signs to save energy amid a record heatwave. The temperature has crossed 40 degrees Celsius mark (104 Fahrenheit) this week. This has resulted in a massive demand for air conditioning. This in turn is drying up reservoirs. The province relies on dams for most of its electricity demand.
These steps taken to save power have started affecting factories. A joint venture with Japanese car giant Toyota has been forced to stop work. Millions of residents in Dazhou city are facing power cuts.
"Hot and muggy weather has caused the city's electricity supply for production and daily life to be pushed to its limit," Chengdu's urban management authorities said in a notice on social media Thursday.
The statement said that Chengdu was facing 'most severe situation'and that outdoor landscape illumination and advertisements have been ordered to be switched off.
The Chengdu metro said in a video on China's Twitter-like platform Weibo that it would also turn off advertisement lights and "optimise" the temperature in stations to save energy.
Photos were shared on Weibo of dimmed lights on metro platforms, in malls and on walkways. Commuters could be seen walking in partial darkness.
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The searing heat is also drying up the critical Yangtze River, with water flow on its main trunk about 50 percent lower than the average over the last five years, state media outlet China News Service reported Thursday.
(With inputs from agencies)
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