BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- China's power consumption will grow 7.5 percent to 5.33 trillion kilowatt-hours (kwh) this year, faster than the 5.5-percent growth rate seen in 2012, an analyst predicted on Thursday.
Electricity usage in the primary, secondary and tertiary industries will expand by 5 percent, 6.5 percent and 11 percent, respectively, according to Xue Jing, an analyst with the China Electricity Council.
Thermal power is expected to account for 80 percent of power generation this year, while hydroelectric power will take a 16-percent share, Xue said, forecasting growth of 22 percent in on-grid wind power.
Xue said power consumption will keep increasing until around 2020, when per capita consumption will exceed 5,000 kwh.
China consumed 4.96 trillion kwh of electricity last year, according to data released earlier by the National Energy Administration.