China's Power Consumption Up 5.5% in 2012

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources China (Beijing, China)--In 2012, China's overall social power consumption reached 4.96 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh), an increase of 5.5% from 2011, according to the Instant Statistic Report recently announced by the National Energy Administration.

Power consumption in the first industry reached 101.3 billion kWh, basically unchanged from 2011; the second industry reached 3.67 trillion kWh, an increase of 3.9%; the third industry reached 569 billion kWh, an increase of 11.5%; and household of urban and township residents reached 621.9 billion kWh, up 10.7% from 2011.

In regards to consumers, the national power consumption for industrial purposes reached 3.61 trillion kWh, of which the consumption in light and heavy industries reached 608.3 billion kWh and 3 trillion kWh, respectively.

In 2012, the average accumulated utilization hour of power generation equipment in China of more than 6 megawatts (MW) reached 4,572 hours, a drop of 158 hours from 2011. The average utilization hour of hydropower equipment reached 3,555 hours, an increase of 536 hours; the average utilization hour of nuclear power equipment reached 7,838 hours, an increase of 79 hours; and the average utilization hour of thermal power equipment reached 4,965 hours, a drop of 340 hours from 2011.

In 2012, the total installed capacity of power plants newly commissioned in China reached 87 gigawatts (GW), of which the installed capacity of hydropower added 19 GW, wind power added 15.37 GW, and thermal power added 51 GW.

In 2012, China's investment in power source construction reached $58.94 billion, of which the infrastructure investment in hydropower reached $19.96 billion; thermal power dropped to $15.85 billion; nuclear power reached $12.16 billion; and wind power reached $9.61 billion. In 2012, China's investment in grid construction reached $57.71 billion.

As of the end of 2012, the installed capacity of power equipment in plants with capacities of more than 6 MW reached 1,144 GW, an increase of 8.2% from 2011. The installed capacity of hydropower reached 249 GW, an increase of 8.3%; thermal power reached 819 GW, an increase of 6.6%; nuclear power reached 12.57 GW, an increase of 5.5%, and wind power reached 62.37 GW, an increase of 32.7%.

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