Power generation giant China Datang shut some plants after sleet and freezing weather in the southern part of the nation disrupted fuel deliveries, sources reported.
Units in Hunan's Leiyang plant owned by China Datang halted operations due to a coal shortage, the provincial government said on its website.
Freezing weather in the southern provinces and municipalities of Jiangxi, Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan and Guizhou forced the evacuation of 58,000 people from their homes, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Two Sichuan power plants with a combined capacity of 2,070 megawatts were shut because of the ice and snow.
Guizhou and Henan provinces restricted coal transportation to Hunan because of power shortages of their own. Hunan has ordered alternative supplies of the fuel, the government website said.
China Southern Power Grid activated Level-2 of its disaster response plan on Jan 6, the power distributor said. The persistent cold weather may threaten grid operations, it added.
While the network in the south was operating normally, some power lines in Guizhou were covered by ice, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission said.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp will boost fuel supplies to southern regions affected by the cold wave, parent China Petrochemical Corp said.
