The largest provincial economy in China’s northeast rust belt on Monday warned of worsening power shortages despite government efforts to boost coal supply and manage electricity use in a post-pandemic energy crisis hitting multiple countries. Liaoning province issued its second-highest alert level for power shortages for the fifth time in two weeks on Monday, warning that the shortfall could reach nearly 5 gigawatts (GW). The biggest economy and largest consumer of power among the three provinces making up China’s rust-belt industrial region, Liaoning has been hit by widespread power cuts since mid-September. However, about 60 coal mines in China's largest coal-mining province, Shanxi, have been closed and several railway lines disrupted since Friday after heavy rain caused flooding. More than 70% of China's coal-fired power plants are loss-making because of high coal costs, Citi analysts said in a note on Friday.

Source: The Telegraph October 11, 2021 18:33 UTC