In Beijing, electricity consumption skyrockets with temperatures

First modification: 06/16/2023 – 14:23

With our correspondent in Beijing, Stéphane Lagarde

The grocery store cash register beeps non-stop. It’s school leaving time and the big bucket of ice cream is a magnet for all the surrounding schoolchildren. A little fresh in a business where the air conditioning has not been put into operation.

“I haven’t turned on the air conditioning, because with air conditioning it would cost me 1,000 yuan (about 130 euros, editor’s note) a month to run the store. It’s very hot, but I have no choice. The electricity bill is too high. Many homes consume electricity, but it is very expensive,” the seller told RFI.

“Our house consumes too much electricity”

According to the Beijing power grid company, the record temperatures recorded since March 2023 have triggered electricity consumption: +30% in the second quarter. In some homes, this has led to power outages.

To this Pekingese; It happened to him last month. At first she thought it was the circuit breaker or a short circuit.” Then the information ran through WeChat [red social china], and all the residents had the same problem. They told us that our residence was using too much electricity. Blackouts of this type are rare in May. They usually occur in July or August, the hottest time in Beijing, ”he points out.

The weather is off. This week, the capital’s meteorological observatory issued a yellow alert for high temperatures, urging the most vulnerable to watch out for heat waves.

Midsummer heatwaves are not unusual in China, especially in the country’s arid west and south. But the Asian giant has faced extreme weather conditions in recent months, aggravated by climate change, according to scientists.

In January, a cold record was broken in China in Mohe, on the border with Russia (-53 °C).

Last year, China experienced its hottest August since records began in 1961, following weeks of an unprecedented heat wave.