A power shortage caused by severe drought in southwest China has spread to Hubei province after hitting export hub Guangdong, prompting additional demand for coal-fired generation, Xinhua reported on Sunday.

Some 300,000 tonnes of thermal coal was needed to plug a shortage in Hubei estimated at 500 million kilowatts/hour due to a severe cut in hydropower, which supplies 30 percent of the province's needs, Xinhua cited local officials as saying.

The drought, which started last summer in southwestern provinces in the upstream of the Yangtze River, has reduced the water level of the massive Three Gorges reservoir -- located mostly in Hubei province -- by six metres versus a year earlier, Xinhua said.

Huibei, an industrial base for auto makers such as Dongfeng Motor Group and steel mills such as Wuhan Iron and Steel Co, recorded a 30-percent rise in power use in the first quarter of this year, and shortages are expected to worsen as demand rises in summer.

The drought has also hit the provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi, leaving millions of residents and livestock with insufficient drinking water.


Reuters