The China Electricity Council said China's total power
consumption during the first half of this year is expected to
increase 11.5 percent.
Wang Yongping, secretary-general of the council, told a meeting
late last week that the demand for power will moderate in the last
three quarters of this year.
Wang said the shortage of power will total about 8 million
kilowatt at peak hours of this summer in east and north China.
Total electricity consumption for the first quarter of this year
stood at 642.987 billion kwh, up 11.81 percent year on year.
The figure included 459.461 billion kwh by industrial sectors,
and petrochemical, building materials and metallurgic sectors
contributed to 56.3 percent of the increased power consumption,
said Wang. That indicates that China has a long way to go to curb
the expansion of energy-intensive sectors, said Wang. Wang said
newly installed capacity totaling 30 million kw will be released
during the first half of this year and an additional 45 million kw
will be generated in the second half of this year, which will
enable most of the country to meet demand at peak hours of this
summer.
(Xinhua News Agency May 3, 2006)