By Staff reporters

As devastating heat sweeps south China, the temperature of Chongqing reached 45 degrees centigrade on Thursday, the highest China has ever recorded anywhere outside Xinjiang. A total of 66 rivers and 25 reservoirs serving Chongqing have dried up. 

The drought threatens the electricity supply in neighboring Sichuan, the biggest hydroelectric generator in China. On August 15, 19 of all 21 cities stopped industrial power consumption until August 21 to ensure the power supply for residents. 

Hydroelectricity accounts for 80 percent of Sichuan’s power, said ZHOU Jian, deputy chief engineer of State Grid Sichuan Company. But with many major reservoirs in the province dry, electricity generated from hydro stations this month was only half of the same time last year, and is going down by 2 percent each day.

“This is unprecedented,” Zhou said. “And the gap is widening as we speak.”

Last year, 2.73 million cars were manufactured in Chongqing and Sichuan, 10 percent of China’s total. CATL, Chang’an Automobile, Volkswagen and Geely have all halted production. 

EV owners are also facing problems as charging stations shut down. Tesla has 14 stations in Chengdu, but 12 are unavailable.