Shandong's power rationing to spread on coal, weather

BEIJING, July 29 (Reuters) - Power rationing in China's Shandong, a major industrial base, will spread to the whole province from the eastern section as over a third of its generators were off line while demand surges on hot weather, the local grid said.

China is facing its worst power crisis since 2004 as a lack of coal for electricity generators is forcing many to curb their power supply.

As of July 27, Shandong's power shortages have surged to as much as 8.82 gigawatts (GW), or 20 percent of its generating capacity connected to the local grid, the Shandong Electric Power Corp said in an announcement posted on Tuesday on the State Grid Corp's website (www.sgcc.com.cn).

The local grid had previously forecast a maximum summer power shortage of 7.6 GW.

A total of 15.54 GW of generating capacity, or 35.72 percent of capacity with grid connections, had been idled since early this month due to reasons including coal shortages, poor coal quality, transportation limits, generator malfunctions and maintenance.

Shandong's power supply situation will be grimmer in the near future as electricity demand is set to increase along with rising summer temperatures, the announcement said. (Reporting by Jim Bai; Editing by Michael Urquhart)