How China stumbled into a giant energy shortage

[superadmin]

BEIJING (CAIXIN GLOBAL) - The perfect storm that created China's worst power crunch grew out of surging energy demand amid the post-pandemic recovery at the same time that coal supply plunged under the government's emission-reduction campaign.

Since late September, many parts of China have suffered severe electricity supply shortages. Local governments imposed power cuts and rationing on industrial users and even residents. The ripple effects disrupted global supply chains as textile, steel and other factories shut down and production plunged.

"I have never seen this in my 20-year career," said a power plant staffer in Northeast China's Liaoning province, one of the regions experiencing the worst power outages over the past few weeks. "Coal prices have nearly doubled this year," the staffer said.


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