China's Power Consumption Rises 4% in February

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources China (Beijing, China)--China's power consumption reached 381.2 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in February, an increase of 4.0% over the same month in 2015, according to China's National Energy Administration (NEA).

Power consumption by primary-sector industries (agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, oil and gas production) reached 5.5 billion kWh in February, an increase of 11.9% over the same month last year. Secondary-sector industries (manufactured goods) used 242.8 billion kWh, a drop of 1.8%. The tertiary industry sector (services) reached 61.9 billion kWh, an increase of 15.7%. Consumption by urban and township households increased 16.6% to 70.9 billion kWh, according to the NEA.

From January through February, China's overall power consumption 876.2 billion kWh, a 2% increase over the same two months in 2015. The growth mainly came from the tertiary industry sector and residential households. Consumption by the tertiary industry sector increased 11.9% to 132.5 billion kWh, while power use by urban and township households grew 11.8% to 140.5 billion kWh.

China's investment in construction of power generation facilities fell during the first two months of 2016 in comparison with the same period of 2015, while grid-related construction increased.

Construction related to power generation amounted to $4.86 billion for January through February, a drop of 21.59%. Hydropower investments fell 12.5% to $1.29 billion; thermal power spending fell 43.42% to $1.32 and nuclear power investments dropped 3.64% to $820 million.

During the same period, investments in grid-related construction reached $6.91 billion, a jump of 35.65%.

Meanwhile, total installed capacity of newly commissioned power plants in China reached 22.28 gigawatts (GW) during the first two months of this year. Hydropower capacity increased 0.99 GW; thermal power grew by 13.95 GW.

As of the end of February, China's installed capacity of those power plants with the ability to generate more than 6 megawatts (MW) reached 1,485.77 GW, an increase of 11.8% over a year earlier. Installed hydropower capacity was 278.15 GW, an increase of 5.2%; thermal power reached 1,003.81 GW, an increase of 9.4%; nuclear power was 28.30 GW, an increase of 33.7%; and wind power reached 133.30 GW, an increase of 33.3%.

Average accumulated power plant utilization from January through February was 575 hours, a drop of 54 hours from the same two months in 2015. Hydropower reached 445 hours, an increase of 72 hours; thermal power was 656 hours, a drop of 83 hours; and wind power was 263 hours, a drop of 39 hours.

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