As a new round of heat wave struck, power demand in Shanghai hit a new high for the year of 21.17 million kilowatts on Wednesday.

The figure was just 30,000 kw less than the city's record, said a spokesman for the municipal power company.

The spokesman said in some districts the electric equipment has been overloaded.

The power load in a power company in southern Shanghai has reached 6.89 million kw, compared with last year's record 6.8 million kw.

Under that influence, power supply may fall short of demand in Songjiang and Minhang districts.

The highest temperature in downtown Shanghai was reported to be 35.9 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. The city has endured 10 days with the temperatures above 35 degrees this year. In normal years, a run of such days lasts no more than nine days.

According to the municipal meteorological station, the high temperature is likely to continue until Saturday.

(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2008)