China Southern Power Grid said on Tuesday it is striving to ensure stable electricity supplies as cold weather grips areas of southern China.

Wang Xiaochun, the company's publicity manager, said more than 300 pieces of equipment are now working in Guizhou and Yunnan provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to melt ice-covering electricity transmission lines and monitor the operation of the power grid to ensure stable power supplies.

"We have mobilized more workers to patrol major transmission lines to prevent and prepare for possible emergencies," he told China Daily on Tuesday.

But senior executives from China Southern Power Grid have promised that there will be no major blackouts even if the weather worsens over the next few days.

The company said this week that it has prepared contingency plans to ensure stable electricity supplies.

According to Wang, 196 electricity transmission lines, including 44 high-voltage lines, were covered with ice on Monday.

Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan were hardest hit by rain and snow during the past few days. All of the ice-bound lines are there, causing concern over a possible blackout in the country's southern and southwestern regions.

To ensure stable electricity supplies, more than 850 employees and 199 vehicles have been sent to grid facilities to help maintain the transmission lines and monitor operations, Wang said.

Guizhou and Yunnan, which have rich water resources and are home to many power plants, are the major suppliers of electricity to the Pearl River Delta region, one of the major electricity consumers on the mainland.

He said that electricity supplies to Guangdong remains stable.

Compared with northern China, which is experienced in dealing with cold weather, southern regions are more vulnerable to snow and ice.

The National Meteorological Center said in a Tuesday statement that South China will continue to experience snow, rain and freezing temperatures for the next few days, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The center said the severe weather would intensify from Tuesday, with blizzards in western regions along the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers, as well as the northern part of South China. The weather is not unlike that experienced in the winter of 2008, when freezing temperatures resulted in more than 120 deaths and more than 150 billion yuan ($24 billion) in direct economic losses.

However, experts do not expect a similar outcome for this year's winter season.

"Although the cold fronts are strong, moisture has been inadequate this year, reducing the possibility of a widespread and continuous freeze like that of 2008," Xinhua quoted Chen Lijuan, a senior engineer at the National Climate Center, as saying.

Governments in areas hit by cold are struggling to aid the homeless and repair infrastructure amid persistent cold weather.

Shelters equipped with quilts, coats and food have opened to the homeless in Hefei, capital of Anhui province.

"You can find shelters and aid stations for the elderly and homeless in all communities and villages in our district," said Zou Zhongxian, a civil affairs official in the city's Luyang district.

The civil affairs bureau in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, has also arranged 1,347 shelters for the elderly.

zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 01/09/2013 page3)