Intel production halted in Sichuan China due to 60-year-high heatwave
China's Sichuan province has had to make some tough decisions in face of the most intense heatwave in 60 years. The three-level power supply control measures now in place have seen giants like Intel closing factories in order for the province to keep up with its rising air conditioner usage.
What does that mean for us? Higher chip prices in the future, potentially. For now, though, the important thing is trying to keep the Chinese population alive.
Already one of the warmest regions, Sichuan is now competing with soaring 40°C (104°F) temperatures, as well as the least rain recorded in decades. It's meant a frightening lack of water in reservoirs for hydropower. As such, China's having a hard time keeping up with the demand coming from the power grid, especially since usage has spiked so violently as its inhabitants' try to keep cool in the heat.
«The power supply situation in the province is extremely tense,» Sichuan Daily(opens in new tab) reports. And they've dubbed it not a shortage, but a «double shortage» (machine translated).
In response, all high-capacity factories in Sichuan—including that of Foxconn Technology (a major tech manufacturing and Apple supplier), Volkswagen, Onsemi, Tesla, and the company we're most concerned about: Intel—have been told to halt production until August 20, The Verge(opens in new tab) notes.
Both Intel's CD1 and CD6 Assembly Test Manufacturing plants are situated in Chengdu, Sichuan, which in the last quarter of 2021 used 60.46 million kWh of energy(opens in new tab).
According to a Quartz article (updated July 2022) air con makes up for around 10%(opens in new tab) of the globe's estimated 2,000 terawatt hours energy use. And on the top end of the equation sits China, which «uses
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