China's energy administration reports that China's power consumption in January-February was up 1.3% compared to the previous year.
The National Energy Administration (NEA), which released data on Tuesday, showed that China's electricity consumption increased by a sluggish 1,3% during the first two month of the year due to an unseasonably mild winter. However, the growth rate rose to 9% in late February.
According to NEA data, February's power consumption was 743.7 kWh and for the entire two-month period it was 1.56 trillion kWh.
China's National Bureau of Statistics reported on Monday that China's electricity generation had fallen 1.3% in the first two month of the year. This is only the third time since 1990s that power generation has dropped during January-February.
Analysts say that power generation and demand grow at similar rates, but there may be some discrepancies due to transmission losses, curtailment, and other factors.
NBS and NEA samples are also different because NBS reports omit a part of the generation from China's smaller-scale renewables such as distributed solar.
NBS data, for example, showed that power generation increased by 6.4% during the first half 2024. However, Ember in London, using data provided by the National Energy Administration (NEA), reported an increase of 7.3%.
Bing Han, senior research analyst at S&P Global Commodities, spoke in an online seminar Tuesday about the slower growth of power consumption. He attributed it partly to a warmer winter than normal, which reduced power demand for heating.
The Tuesday NEA data confirms this, showing that the residential power consumption in February fell by 4.2%. Primary industries such as agriculture and mines used 10% more energy and secondary industries - including manufacturing - used 12%.
Han explained that the use of coal in heating systems weighed down on the generation. According to NBS data that did not separate by month, China's thermal energy generation fell 6% over the past two months.
Han stated that "as we enter into the second and third quarter, we believe that power demand will recover strongly."
(source: Reuters)
