China’s power use surged to a historic high this week as economic activity picked up further after coronavirus-related lockdowns and a heat wave drove up demand for cooling appliances, state media reported late on Wednesday.

Power load at State Grid Corp of China, the country’s dominant power grid operator, reached 875 gigawatts on Monday, an all-time high, state-run Technology Daily reported.

Jiangsu in east China, the largest power-consuming province under the State Grid Corp, recorded a power load of 108.5 gigawatts on Monday, it said.

While heat wave is expected to recede in the northern and eastern parts of the country, central and southwestern provinces such as Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Sichuan are expected to experience another week of 38 degree Celsius weather.

China Southern Power Grid Corp, which operates grids in southern provinces, also reported record power load at 199.8 gigawatts in late July, 7% higher than last year’s peak.