China's electricity supply, demand to be balanced in second half of the year: trade association

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BEIJING, Aug. 10 -- China's overall electricity supply and demand will be balanced in the second half of the year, according to China Electricity Council (CEC), a non-profit national trade association.

"Now we are in a critical summer peak period, and there will be power shortages in some areas during the peak period," said Yu Chongde, a spokesperson for the CEC.

CEC forecast the growth rate of power consumption will reach around 5.5 percent in 2019.

In the second half of the year, power supply and demand will be tight in northern and central China during peak hours and balanced in eastern and southern China, while power supply will be rich in northeastern and northwestern regions, according to the CEC.

In the first half of the year, China added 40.74 million kilowatts of electricity generation capacity, 11.94 million kilowatts less than the same period last year.

The reduction was mainly caused by the slower growth rate in the solar energy sector, which saw 11.64 million kilowatts of new power generation capacity in the first half of the year, 14.17 million kilowatts less than the same period last year.