Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The energy crisis in China is getting real. The Bamboo Curtain government asked energy companies to ensure they have an adequate supply of fuel for the winter season. They are required to meet the supply at all costs.
Report Bloomberg News, Friday (10/1/2021), citing an unnamed source, reported that Deputy Premier Han Zheng asked energy companies to ensure there was enough fuel to keep the country running.
“China will not tolerate a blackout,” the report said, as quoted by AFP.
Han, who oversees the country’s energy sector and industrial production, was said to be speaking about the matter at an emergency meeting this week. He told officials from China’s state-owned asset regulator and economic planning agency.
China has been hit by a power outage that has closed parts of its factories, hitting global production and supply chains. More than a dozen provinces and territories have been forced to impose energy use restrictions in recent months.
The crisis was caused by a variety of factors including increased overseas demand as economies reopen, record coal prices, state electricity price controls, and tough emissions targets.
Nearly 60% of China’s economy is powered by coal, but supplies at the world’s biggest coal importer have been disrupted by the pandemic and strained by a trade dispute with Australia.
As demand for electricity from factories in China soared, utilities were unable to buy enough fuel after prices soared.
The country’s environmental agenda has further compounded the crisis, with pressure to reduce coal burning and limit coal mining growth after President Xi Jinping pledged his country to be carbon neutral by 2060.
Data released on Thursday showed Chinese factory activity contracted last month for the first time since February 2020.
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