Power use crosses key milestone in Aug

China's electricity consumption surpassed 1 trillion kilowatt-hours for a second consecutive month in August, driven by robust demand from both production and consumption sectors, according to data released by the National Energy Administration.

Total power consumption in August reached around 1.02 trillion kWh, a 5 percent increase year-on-year. This follows July's milestone, which is also a global first, when China became the first country to exceed 1 trillion kWh in monthly electricity usage.

For the first eight months of the year, total electricity consumption reached around 6.88 trillion kWh, a 4.6 percent increase compared to the same period last year, it said.

Jiang Debin, deputy director of the China Electricity Council's statistics and data center, attributed the record electricity consumption, often seen as a key indicator of economic activity, to both hot summer weather and government policies aimed at stabilizing industrial growth.

"The record electricity consumption was propelled by strong performance in manufacturing and retail sectors, as the macroeconomy continues to recover, and production capacity in various industries is steadily being released," he said.

"The steady operation of the power grid despite record-breaking electricity loads this summer reflects the country's enhanced energy supply security and resilience."

The council believes that with load repeatedly hitting new highs in most provinces across the country and high pressure on supply in various regions, achieving an electricity supply of 1 trillion kWh is a major test of China's power regulation and control system.

Wang Hongzhi, head of the NEA, recently emphasized the need to expand new energy supply and steadily increase the proportion of new energy power generation.

Wang stressed the need to expand new energy supplies, steadily increase the proportion of renewable energy in the power mix and coordinate local consumption with long-distance transmission.

China's energy supply security and resilience overall have reached a relatively high level. It has strong independent security capabilities, strong operational regulation capabilities, and strong emergency support capabilities, according to the NEA.

Since the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), domestic energy production has accelerated, with over 90 percent of the increase in consumption being independently secured domestically, it said.

In particular, new energy sources have played an important role, said Wang.

The increase in new energy power generation accounts for nearly 50 percent of the total increase in national power generation, driving the total supply of nonfossil energy to grow by nearly 50 percent, he said.

The NEA data showed that electricity consumption in the manufacturing sector grew by 5.5 percent in August, the highest monthly growth rate this year.

Breaking down the consumption by sector, primary industry electricity consumption saw a rapid increase, growing by 9.7 percent year-on-year in August, an increase of 5.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

High-tech and equipment manufacturing also demonstrated strong resilience, with a combined electricity consumption increase of 9.1 percent, approximately 4.6 percentage points higher than the average growth rate of the manufacturing sector.

Jiang said electricity consumption for manufacturing new energy vehicles and photovoltaic products has maintained rapid growth, demonstrating the vigorous development of new quality productive forces, which are forming new economic growth points and driving electricity consumption higher.

Considering the high-temperature factors in the third quarter, electricity consumption growth in the second half of this year is expected to be higher than in the first half, he said. "Ensuring the stable operation of the power grid remains a top priority."

Considering the challenges of ensuring grid stability with a high proportion of renewable energy sources, the council has suggested further promoting electricity market reforms and encouraging energy-efficient consumption behavior.