TAIYUAN, China, Oct 13 (Reuters) - China Hongqiao Group , the world's top non-state aluminium maker, is postponing a plan to relocate aluminium capacity to Yunnan province due to energy restrictions imposed by the provincial government, its chairman said on Wednesday.

Hongqiao planned to move 2 million tonnes of capacity to Wenshan prefecture and 1 million tonnes to Honghe prefecture in Yunnan province - nearly half of its 6.46-million-tonne licensed annual primary aluminium capacity - for easier access to hydropower, a cleaner power source than coal.

While 1 million tonnes of capacity had started in Wenshan last year, Hongqiao pushed back the relocation plan for the rest due to power curbs, Chairman Zhang Bo told Reuters on the sideline of Antaike's China International Aluminium Week.

The rest of the move to Yunnan would still happen, however, and the company was in communication with authorities to "adjust" the plan, he said, without giving a timeline.

The power crunch in Yunnan had not caused a big impact on Hongqiao's existing production there, Zhang added, as they had just started to move to the province.

Yunnan told aluminium smelters using its hydropower to keep average monthly output for September-December at August volumes or lower, as the province struggled from power shortages that have also spiralled across China and disrupted several sectors.

"Over 2.9 million tonnes per year of (Chinese aluminium) capacity have been curtailed due to power shortages and dual control measures," CRU analyst Ross Strachan said at a webinar on Tuesday.

"(Yunnan) may have to be even more cautious as it goes forward, with possibly an extra 1 million tonnes of curtailments likely to take place there in the fourth quarter and no ramp-ups likely until the second half of 2022," Strachan added.

Supply shortage worries due to the power curb have pushed prices of the metal to their 13-year highs on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange.

However, with raw material and energy prices pushing up production costs and energy consumption controls expected to continue, Zhang said industry participants should "be prepared for adversity".

"I want to call for companies in the industry to maintain product prices, secure supply, stabilise prices and market expectation," said Zhang, adding that authorities should avoid rushing carbon emission cuts. (Reporting by Min Zhang in Taiyuan, Mai Nguyen in Hanoi and Tom Daly in London; Editing by Stephen Coates)