Coal shortages have forced 39 power plants in China to halt generation with 6.37 gigawatts of capacity affected, as fuel inventories further decline, the industry watchdog said.

Among the most affected provinces, Hebei only has 5.1 days worth of consumption and Hunan 3.4 days, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission said. Anhui has slightly recovered with 3.7 days of supply. The government's warning level for coal inventories is seven days.

The situation has worsened from earlier this week when the SERC reported 32 power plants had been closed, affecting 4.82GW of capacity. China's total installed power generating capacity was 713GW at the end of 2007, of which around three quarters were coal fired.

In quake-hit Sichuan Province, coal stockpiles at power plants averaged nine days of supply as of Wednesday. But one plant is running out of fuel and another eight are below the seven-day consumption line, the SERC said.
The shortfall comes after coal prices have surged over recent months.

Although higher coal prices are enough to trigger a state-mandated mechanism to hike power tariffs, industry observers don't expect this to come any time soon as the government has to fight inflation, especially after the Sichuan quake.

Photo taken on Dec. 20, 2007 shows Tianwan nuclear power plant in Lianyungang, a coastal city of east

China's Jiangsu Province. The first phase project of the plant was put into commercial operation on Thursday.

As utility firms are squeezed between rising costs and capped tariffs, they are reported to be unwilling to stock up on the fuel.

China's safety campaign to crack down on small and inefficient mines might also be playing a part in limiting coal supplies.

"The sharp decline of stockpiles means power shortfalls may come and fuel prices may continue to rise," said Wang Shuang, a United Securities analyst.

The SERC did not point out how to tackle the shortages but said it was working on ensuring supplies throughout the earthquake-affected areas.

It called for more hydro power in Sichuan and said electricity was being diverted from other regions to supply the southwestern province.