A major drought has squeezed electricity output at big dams across southwest China.
Ships are stranded, millions are short on drinking water, and power supplies to big consumers in several Chinese provinces have been cut back, highlighting the risks of Beijing's massive hydropower expansion plans.
man walks on the partially dried-up riverbed of the Yangtze River in Wuhan, Hubei province today.
The drought has left parts of the Yangtze River at their lowest level in 142 years.
The world's number-two energy user already gets 15 per cent of its electricity from hydropower and aims to increase capacity by more than half by the end of the decade.
In 2004, China endured its worst power shortages in decades as new plant construction lagged far behind rapid economic growth.
Many businesses turned to diesel-fired generators to stave off blackouts, causing oil demand to surge by 15 per cent, a key factor behind oil prices' first ascent above $50 a barrel.
The International Energy Agency estimated that up to 350,000 barrels per day of oil demand, or over one-third of total consumption growth that year, went to power generation.