China says electricity shortages to continue into winter

By Wang Xiaocong
30 September 2011 (Beijing) – Acute power shortages will continue in parts of China in the upcoming winter and spring seasons, particularly in the southern and central regions where most of the country’s hydropower power stations are located, an energy official told a press conference on September 29. According to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, hydroelectricity accounts for 16 percent of China’s total electricity consumption. The volume of water available for hydro power generation has in recent months fallen 30 to 40 percent from a year earlier. Rainfall in the autumn is expected to be limited, which will no doubt affect the electricity supply in these regions this winter, said Hao Weiping, vice director of the Electricity Department, the National Energy Administration. Meanwhile, power shortages will also occur in some coal production regions, where on-grid prices for coal-fired electricity are not sufficient to cover the power generation costs of power plants, said Hao. China’s thermal power firms have been in the red in recent years as the inflation-wary government has not permitted power companies to raise electricity prices in line with growing coal costs. Power consumption nationwide grew 11.9 percent to 3.12 trillion kilowatt hours in the first eight months, two thirds of which has been for industrial use, Hao said. And over half of electricity used for industry has gone to energy-intensive industries. Hao added that such an energy consumption structure is unsustainable.

China Says Electricity Shortages to Continue into Winter