An extensive blackout drill in Guangzhou this morning could help the city cope if it were hit by a terrorist attack, an official with the city government has said.

"Though Guangzhou is not a major target for a terrorist attack, we have to be prepared for any possible emergencies," said the official who refused to be named, adding that it is the city's first ever such drill.

Today's simulated blackout in the city's busy downtown area begins at 9 am, when a supposed fire in a tunnel in Guangzhou's Tianhe District, causes six core electricity substations in the Tianhe and Yuexiu districts to "malfunction," shutting down the electricity supply.

Over the next three hours emergency services and city engineers will work to tackle the fire and restore power.

The city's standby electricity generating units should kick in shortly after the initial shutdown, while electricity workers will be immediately sent to repair the grid while fire fighters "put out the flames."

Traffic lights at the crossroads of Huangpu Dadao and Tiyudonglu, a major traffic hub, will simulate failure with their job for the duration of the "blackout" being taken by traffic police.

Ambulances will run along major streets to rescue "the wounded."

Passengers will be helped to escape from the subway tunnels and stations along Guangzhou's Metro Line 1.

However, normal power supplies to local government departments, hospitals, department stores, supermarkets, schools, kindergartens, hotels, restaurants and residential houses will not be affected.

The drill is designed to improve the city's preparedness for emergencies and further improve co-operation and co-ordination between government departments and other organizations, the unnamed official told China Daily.

With a straining electricity grid, a failing power supply is a very real threat.

The Guangdong provincial electricity grid was stretched to full capacity over the summer, with demand reaching the maximum output of more than 44 million kilowatts eight times.

This year saw record demand for power in the province and, if the increase in demand continues, unplanned blackouts could well hit next summer.

The electricity grid in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, also operated at full capacity several times, reaching 7.2 million kilowatts between July and September.

The gap between electricity supply and demand in Guangdong has reached more than 4.8 million kilowatt hours this year.

Source: China Daily

(China Daily