Hot work for electricians
Shanghai Meteorological Bureau issued its ninth yellow alert for heat this year as temperatures rose above 35 degrees Celsius.
With many residents switching on their air-conditioning, the power load in the city on Tuesday reached 3,132 kilowatts, higher than last year’s peak.
As the power load increases, so too the pressure on electricians from the State Grid Shanghai Co.
At 4pm on Wednesday, a woman surnamed Cui, who lives in an old residential community in Xuhui District, called the 95598 emergency line saying her apartment had no power.
Zhang, an electrician from the state grid’s Shinan company that is responsible for power in Minhang and Xuhui districts, arrived within 15 minutes.
“Most of these power-off incidents are triggered by old wiring in the home,” said Zhang. It took him only 30 seconds to get the power back on. “Residents don’t know how circuits work, and many of them are afraid of getting a shock,” Zhang said.
The company said its electricians had been getting more than 330 such calls each day for the past month. In usual time, the average figure was 200.
“We have set up 12 temporary offices for electricians in Xuhui and Minhang,” said Shen. “And we almost doubled the manpower. There were 226 workers on shift a couple of months ago, now it’s 518.”
Apart from solving residents’ problems, the company also makes daily inspections at 171 spots in the two districts where the power supply is vital, including hospitals, pump stations and power distribution stations.
Around 3pm, Wang Xule was at the pump station at the junction of Tianlin and Hechuan roads in Xuhui. He was checking flood-prevention equipment and making sure all the power generators at the station functioned well.
The station has four pumps powered by two different circuits. Each pump sucks 2.8 cubic meters of water per second.
“The weather forecast said rain may come next week, the pumps protect the city from flooding,” said Wang. “We must make sure the distribution room won’t be flooded as many of them are set underground.”
Shen Qin, who is responsible for maintaining 10 pump stations, told Shanghai Daily that when typhoons arrive, the pump machine will be open for more than 12 hours a day to prevent the city from flooding.
When the pumps don't work, an electrician inspects them every two hours. At one pump station inspected by Shen, all the windows of the room were closed to prevent bird and animals from getting in. The room was sweltering as the temperature exceeded 40 degrees.
The inspection lasted for 20 minutes, as Shen checked the power generator and made sure everything was operating as normal.
Shen told Shanghai Daily that during rainy days when the pumps were fully operating, the room would be much hotter, and there was the possibility of toxic gas being generated.
“You never know when a sudden rainstorm will hit the city,” he said. “So we must stay vigilant and be constantly ready for any emergency situation.”
A worker at the pump station at the junction of Hechuan and Tianlin roads monitors the status of its power generators.
The huge rainwater pumps at the pump station, each of these machines sucks 2.8 cubic meters of water per second.
Wang Xule of the State Grid's Shinan company inspects the high-voltage power generator at a pump station.
