Overall Electricity Consumption Expected to Surge 8 PercentFueled by steady growth of the national economy, China's electricity consumption is expected to reach 1,300 billion kilowatts-hour (kwh) this year, up 8 to 8.5 per cent on a yearly basis.More than ten provinces and municipalities including Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi and Shanghai witnessed a double-digit growth in electricity output in the first half year, according bureau director Shi Yubo of the Electric Power Bureau of the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC). In coastal regions such as Guangdong and Hebei where exports surge pulled up electricity demand, electricity supply cannot meet their increasing need. For instance, Shanghai borrowed electric power from nearby Anhui so as to satisfy its electricity consumption, which in the first six months hit 25.736 billion kwh, up 12.8 percent over the year-earlier period. Electric power departments nationwide have to launch reforms in the country's power sector to improve efficiency, upgrade power supply services and better allocate power resources, according to Shi Yubo. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |