UPDATE 1-East China Province Cuts Power to Some Sectors

BEIJING, July 7 -- Eastern China's Zhejiang province has started rolling power cuts to eight energy-intensive sectors from the beginning of this month to curb demand amid tight power supply, the local grid said.

Electricity supply to more than 1,000 firms in industries including cement, steel, chemical, textile and paper making, have been cut and will continue to be reduced during the first half of July, it said. Power supply curbs to a second batch of firms will start from July 15.

The power cuts will be effective from July 1 to Sept. 30 and all firms in the eight sectors with energy consumption of 5,000 tonnes or above of coal equivalent each in 2009 will be affected, Zhejiang Electric Power Corporation said in a report on www.sgcc.com.cn.

The maximum power shortages in Zhejiang were estimated at around 3.6 gigawatts (GW) in the three months through September, China Chemical Industry News reported on Tuesday, citing data from the local grid.

The local grid said earlier this year that peak summer power shortages in Zhejiang could amount to 2 GW.

Other sectors included in the rolling power cut plan are mining, metallurgy and petroleum, the newspaper report said.

On-grid power demand hit a record high of 38.83 GW on July 2 in Zhejiang, 35 percent higher than a year earlier.

Maximum power supply capacity in Zhejiang was around 41 GW, according to the local grid.

China Southern Power Grid Co, one of two state grid companies, provided more than 100 million kilowatts of energy for the first time on Tuesday, state news agency Xinhua said.

The firm, which supplies electricity to the export-dependent economy of southern Guangdong province among others, said it was taking steps to ensure the stable supply of power during the current bout of high temperatures.

This included diverting supplies to Guangdong from the nearby provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou, the report said.