China's Power Growth Remains Weak in First Quarter

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--China's power consumption in the first industry (agriculture-plantations, forestry, livestock and fisheries) and third industry (service and transportation) has been growing steadily since the end of last year, according to a report by the National Development and Reform Commission. Power consumption in the second industry (construction, manufacturing and energy production) gradually began to increase, but the foundation for growth remained weak, the report stated.

Click on the image at right to see a breakdown of China's power consumption during the first quarter.

In the first quarter, China's power output totaled 779.7 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), a drop of 2% year over year, but the rate was 4 percentage points higher compared with the previous quarter. Hydropower output totaled 96.2 billion kWh, up 24% year over year; thermal power output totaled 654.4 billion kWh, down 6.1% year over year; and nuclear power output totaled 14 billion kWh, down 3.6% year over year. The country's power output showed year-over-year declines in the six months leading up to March. Statistics from State Grid showed that the daily average power output in the first 10 days of March increased year over year to 9.37 billion kWh but that the daily average output dropped again near the end of the month.

China's power generation capacity during the quarter increased 10.6% year over year, and the average utilization of power generation equipment reached 1,009 hours, a drop of 151 hours year over year. The utilization of thermal power equipment totaled 1,100 hours, down 186 hours year over year.

The country's social power consumption totaled 781 billion kWh, down 4% year over year. Power consumption of the first and third industries grew 5.1% and 7.4%, respectively, while it dropped 8.2% in the second industry. Household consumption grew 9.9%.

The supply and demand for power maintained overall balance, the report stated. However, because of the impact of equipment maintenance, Ningbo and Foshan were forced to cut 200 megawatts (MW) and 45 MW, respectively, of load in late March. The central Tibet grid also experienced a maximum power shortage of 35 MW.

The continual worsening of the operation statuses of Chinese power enterprises is considered the main problem in the country's power Industry. Profits in the thermal power sector dropped 33% year over year in the first two months of the year. Disputes over generation quotas between thermal power and hydropower were prevalent, as well.

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