MANY Shenzhen residents have complained about power failures in their neighborhoods over the past few days, as the city was under the influence of an unrelenting heat wave.

The electrical load of power grids in Shenzhen soared to a record high of 17 million kilowatts Monday, up 5 percent compared to the peak of 16.2 million kilowatts last year, according to a press release posted on the official website of the city’s power supply bureau.

According to the bureau, the overloaded power grids triggered the malfunction of some power supply facilities, leading to the power blackouts in many areas in Longgang, Bao’an, Longhua and Nanshan districts between Saturday and Monday.

The bureau’s spokesperson said that most of the affected areas were old residential estates and urban villages, where the power supply facilities are outdated.

Data showed that the launch of nearly 1,200 power grid projects across the city has been delayed due to the shortage of land resources in urban villages, according to yesterday’s Chinese-language media.

In the meantime, the city is carrying out urban renovation projects, leading to a rapid growth in population density and electrical load in urban villages.

According to the bureau’s spokesperson, about 19.9 percent of distribution transformers in urban villages in the city are heavily loaded.

Most of these power supply facilities are old and faulty, while some have been used for more than 20 years, the spokesperson said.

The bureau has failed to replace some of these facilities with new ones because some of the committees of these urban villages have been reluctant or unable to provide the circuit routes of public electricity rooms in the areas.

The bureau said it has taken various measures to maintain the stable operation of power grids and restore power in affected areas as soon as possible.

Residents are encouraged to save electricity and set the temperature of their air conditioners at above 26 Celsius degrees, while property owners are advised to enhance the maintenance of their power supply facilities.

The bureau also called for residents to gain a scientific understanding of electromagnetic radiation and support the bureau’s construction of power grid projects.

(Zhang Yang)