According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Industry Development and Environmental Resources of China Electric Power Union, the new solar power generation in China's infrastructure increased by 38.28GW from January to August, 16.49GW more than the same period last year. In the first seven months of this year, China installed 34.92GW of solar power, which means that the newly installed solar power capacity was 3.36GW in August, according to the China Power Union's previous statistics.
Details are as follows:
From January to August, the country's electricity supply and demand are generally loose. The growth rate of electricity consumption in the whole society slowed down month-on-month, and the electricity consumption in the three industries continued to grow rapidly. The cumulative growth rate of industrial and manufacturing electricity consumption increased year-on-year; The cumulative growth rate of electricity consumption in high-load energy industry increased year on year, while the growth rate of electricity consumption in non-ferrous metal smelting industry declined for two consecutive months. The growth rate of installed power generation capacity slowed down, and hydropower power generation increased for two consecutive months. The utilization hours of hydropower decreased year on year, while that of other types of power generation equipment increased year on year. The electricity delivered across regions and provinces increased year on year. The newly installed solar power generation capacity increased significantly, leading to a year-on-year increase in the country's newly installed power generation capacity.
I. The growth rate of electricity consumption in the whole society slowed down month-on-month, and the electricity consumption in the three industries continued to grow rapidly
From January to August, China consumed 4,157.1 billion KWH of electricity, up 6.8 percent year on year and 2.6 percentage points higher than the same period last year.
From January to August, the electricity consumption of the former industries was 80.3 billion KWH, up 8.5% year on year, accounting for 1.9% of the total. The electricity consumption of the secondary industry was 2,920.9 billion KWH, up by 6.1% year on year, 4.1 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year, accounting for 70.3% of the total electricity consumption and contributing 63.4% to the total electricity consumption growth. The tertiary industry consumed 582.4 billion KWH, up 10.4% year on year, 0.6 percentage points lower than that in the same period of last year, accounting for 14.0% of the total electricity consumption and contributing 20.5% to the total electricity consumption growth. The domestic electricity consumption of urban and rural residents was 573.5 billion KWH, up 6.8 percent year on year and 2.9 percentage points lower than that in the same period of last year, accounting for 13.8 percent of the total electricity consumption and contributing 13.7 percent to the total electricity consumption growth.
Figure 1. Total social electricity consumption and its growth rate in 2016 and 2017
By province, from January to August, all provinces in China achieved a positive growth in electricity consumption. Among them, there are 14 provinces where the growth rate of social power consumption is higher than the national average (6.8%), as follows: Tibet, shaanxi, ningxia (13.3%), (19.7%) (11.2%), shanxi (11.2%), guizhou (11.1%), (11.0%) in Inner Mongolia, xinjiang (10.9%), jiangxi (9.3%), (8.4%) of gansu, yunnan (8.3%), (7.9%), zhejiang, anhui (7.6%), qinghai (7 .6%) and Henan (7.6%).
In August, the country consumed 599.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, up 6.4 percent year on year. By industry, the electricity consumption of the former industries was 14.8 billion KWH, up 11.7 percent year on year; The secondary industry consumed 389 billion KWH of electricity, up 2.6 percent year on year; The tertiary industry consumed 93.1 billion KWH of electricity, up 12.7 percent year on year; The domestic electricity consumption of urban and rural residents was 102.1 billion KWH, up 16.4 percent year on year.
By province, all provinces registered positive growth in electricity consumption in August, except Shandong (-4.8 percent), Jilin (-4.3 percent), Beijing (-0.8 percent) and Heilongjiang (-0.7 percent). Among them, 15 provinces had a growth rate higher than the national average (6.4%), and the following provinces had a growth rate of more than 10% : (15.8%) in Inner Mongolia, ningxia (14.5%), chongqing (14.4%) and hainan (13.3%), henan (12.4%), Tibet (12.4%), guangdong (11.9%), zhejiang (11.5%), (10.5%), shanxi (10.3%) of jiangxi province and guizhou (10.2%).
Second, the cumulative growth rate of industrial and manufacturing electricity consumption increased year-on-year
From January to August, industrial electricity consumption in China reached 2,899.7 billion KWH, up 6.1 percent year on year and 4.1 percentage points higher than that in the same period last year, accounting for 69.0 percent of the total consumption of electricity and contributing 61.8 percent to the total growth of electricity consumption. The electricity consumption of light industry was 491 billion KWH, up 7.2% year on year, 3.1 percentage points higher than the same period last year; Heavy industry consumed 2,378.7 billion KWH, up 5.9 percent year on year and 4.3 percentage points higher than the same period last year.
In August, industrial power consumption in China reached 381.2 billion KWH, up 2.4 percent year on year, accounting for 63.6 percent of the total. Among them, the electricity consumption of light industry was 71 billion KWH, up 8.6 percent year on year, accounting for 11.9 percent of the total. Heavy industry consumed 310.2 billion KWH of electricity, up 1.0 percent year on year, accounting for 51.8 percent of the total.
Figure 2 Monthly electricity consumption growth of light and heavy industry since 2015
From January to August, China's manufacturing sector consumed 2,137.3 billion KWH of electricity, up 6.7 percent year on year and 5.7 percentage points higher than the same period last year. China's manufacturing sector consumed 290.3 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in August, up 4.9 percent year on year. The average daily electricity consumption in the manufacturing sector was 9.36 billion KWH/day, an increase of 420 million KWH/day and a decrease of 110 million KWH/day from a year ago and the previous month, respectively.
Figure 3 Average daily electricity consumption of manufacturing industry since 2016 and 2017
3. The cumulative growth rate of electricity consumption in the high-load energy industry increased year on year, and the growth rate of electricity consumption in the non-ferrous metal smelting industry declined for two consecutive months
From January to August, the electricity consumption of four high-energy industries, namely, chemical raw materials products, non-metallic mineral products, ferrous metal smelting and non-ferrous metal smelting, totaled 1,193.4 billion KWH, up 5.4% year on year, or 7.6 percentage points higher than the same period last year. The total electricity consumption accounted for 28.7% of the whole society's electricity consumption, and contributed 23.0% to the growth of the whole society's electricity consumption. Among them, the power consumption of the chemical industry was 293 billion KWH, up 3.8 percent year on year, 1.2 percentage points higher than the same period last year; The electricity consumption of the building materials industry was 210.8 billion KWH, up 3.7 percent year on year, 3.1 percentage points higher than the same period last year; The power consumption of ferrous metal smelting industry was 319.5 billion KWH, up 1.8% year on year, or 9.2 percentage points higher than the same period of last year; The non-ferrous metal smelting industry reached 370.1 billion KWH, up 11.2 percent year on year and 14.0 percentage points higher than the same period last year.
In August, the power consumption of the four high-load industries totaled 155.2 billion KWH, up 1.8 percent year on year, 1.4 percentage points higher than the same period last year, accounting for 25.9 percent of the total power consumption of the whole society. Among them, the electricity consumption of the chemical industry was 37.5 billion KWH, up 6.3% year on year, 9.2 percentage points higher than the same period last year; The electricity consumption of the building materials industry was 30.1 billion KWH, up 2.2% year on year, 1.6 percentage points lower than the same period last year; The electricity consumption of the ferrous metal industry was 42.1 billion KWH, down 2.3% year on year, and the growth rate was 0.7 percentage points lower than the same period of last year; The non-ferrous metal smelting industry was 45.5 billion KWH, up 1.8 percent year on year, 1.1 percentage points lower than the same period last year.
Figure 4. Monthly power consumption of key industries in 2016 and 2017
4. The installed power generation capacity growth slowed down, hydropower power generation in the month for two consecutive months of positive growth
By the end of August, China's installed capacity of power plants with a capacity of 6,000 kW or above had reached 1.66 billion kW, up 7.5 percent year on year and 3.7 percentage points lower than the same period last year. Of this total, 290 million kW of hydropower, 1.08 billion kW of thermal power, 34.73 million kW of nuclear power, and 160 million kw of grid-connected wind power. From January to August, power plants above designated size generated 4,165.9 billion KWH, up 6.5 percent year on year and 3.5 percentage points higher than the same period last year.
From January to August, hydropower output from power plants above designated size was 702.4 billion KWH, down 2.1 percent year on year and 14.1 percentage points lower than that in the same period last year. The top three provinces in terms of hydropower generation are Sichuan (187.8 billion KWH), Yunnan (140.8 billion KWH) and Hubei (92.9 billion KWH). Their combined hydropower generation accounts for 60.0% of the total hydropower generation in China, with year-on-year increases of 8.0%, 15.0% and -9.2%, respectively.
From January to August, coal-fired power plants above designated size generated 3,084.9 billion KWH, up 7.2 percent year on year and 7.7 percentage points higher than the same period last year. In terms of provinces, the thermal power generation in all provinces registered positive growth except Hainan (-10.7%), Beijing (-10.6%) and Yunnan (0.0%). Ningxia (28.6 percent) and Hunan (23.8 percent) saw growth rates of more than 20 percent. Growth is more than 10% (18.4%) in guangxi province, qinghai (15.1%), (14.9%) in hubei, jiangxi (14.3%), guizhou (13.2%), guangdong (12.7%) and chongqing (11.5%).
From January to August, China generated 161.5 billion KWH of nuclear power, up 18.4 percent year on year and 5.3 percentage points lower than the same period last year.
From January to August, wind power plants with a capacity of 6,000 kW or above generated 190.5 billion KWH, up 23.6 percent year on year, or 3.2 percentage points lower than the same period last year.
5. The utilization hours of hydropower decreased year-on-year, while the utilization hours of other types of power generation equipment increased year-on-year
From January to August, the cumulative average utilization hours of power generation equipment in China were 2,503 hours, 3 hours lower than the same period last year.
Figure 5 Utilization hours from January to August in calendar years since 2005
By type, from January to August, the average utilization hours of hydropower equipment in China was 2,304 hours, 152 hours lower than the same period last year. In the 7 provinces with installed hydropower capacity exceeding 10 million kW, except Yunnan and Sichuan, the average utilization hours of hydropower equipment decreased to different degrees year-on-year. Guangxi, Guizhou and Hunan decreased by more than 500 hours, 606 hours, 572 hours and 527 hours year-on-year respectively; Hubei and Qinghai decreased by 284 hours and 35 hours year-on-year respectively. The average utilization hours of thermal power equipment in China were 2,793 hours, an increase of 67 hours over the same period last year. The utilization hours of thermal power equipment in 10 provinces exceeded the national average level, among which Jiangsu, Hebei, Ningxia, Shandong, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Anhui and Inner Mongolia exceeded 3,000 hours, while Tibet and Yunnan only recorded 66 and 823 hours, respectively. Compared with the same period last year, a total of 23 provinces in China experienced a year-on-year increase in thermal power utilization hours, including 425 and 317 hours in Hunan and Jiangxi; more than 200 hours in Ningxia, Hubei, Shaanxi and Guangdong; more than 100 hours in Fujian, Zhejiang, Guizhou and Hebei; and more than 300 hours in Hainan and Beijing. They were 342 and 304 hours lower than the previous year, respectively; The average utilization hours of nuclear power plants in China were 4,743 hours, an increase of 105 hours over the same period last year. The average utilization hours of wind power equipment in China were 1,245 hours, an increase of 101 hours over the same period last year.
Figure 6 Installed wind power capacity and equipment utilization hours of provinces with more installed wind power from January to August
6. The electricity delivered across regions and provinces increased year on year
From January to August, 267.2 billion KWH of electricity was delivered across regions, up 10.9 percent year on year. Among them, North China to Central China (UHV) 2.3 billion KWH, down 27.7% year on year; North China sent 14.7 billion KWH to East China, up 34.2% year on year; Northeast China sent 14.5 billion KWH to North China, up 2.5% year on year; Central China sent 21.6 billion KWH to East China, down 15.8% year on year; Central China sent 15.5 billion KWH to southern China, down 4.7% year on year; Northwest China sent 68.6 billion KWH to North and Central China, up 12.5% year on year; Southwest sent 66.6 billion KWH to East China, up 1.3 percent year on year.
From January to August, provinces delivered 721.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, up 11.5 percent year on year. Among them, Inner Mongolia delivered 99.8 billion KWH, up 8.2 percent year on year; Yunnan delivered 91 billion KWH of electricity, up 28.7 percent year on year; Sichuan delivered 86.7 billion KWH of electricity, up 8.0 percent year on year; Shanxi delivered 59.6 billion KWH, up 15.1% year on year; Hubei delivered 52.9 billion KWH, down 8.9 percent year on year; Guizhou delivered 41.6 billion KWH of electricity, down 21.6 percent year on year; Anhui delivered 37.1 billion KWH of electricity, up 14.0 percent year on year; Ningxia delivered 33.7 billion KWH of electricity, up 57.6 percent year on year; Xinjiang delivered 29.8 billion KWH of electricity, up 26.4 percent year on year; Hebei delivered 28 billion KWH of electricity, up 8.7 percent year on year; Shaanxi delivered 25.7 billion KWH of electricity, up 16.0 percent year on year; Gansu delivered 22.5 billion KWH of electricity, up 46.4 percent year on year; Liaoning sent 20.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, up 3.2 percent year on year.
In August, 49.7 billion KWH of power was delivered across regions, up 17.7 percent year on year. Among them, North China sent 3.8 billion KWH to East China, up 117.6% year on year; Northeast China sent 2.1 billion KWH to North China, up 47.1% year on year; Central China sent 3.5 billion KWH to East China, down 19.1% year on year; Central China sent 2.1 billion KWH to southern China, down 14.1% year on year; Northwest China sent a total of 10.8 billion KWH to North and Central China, up 22.4% year on year; Southwest sent 15.7 billion KWH to East China, up 2.9 percent year on year.
Provinces delivered a combined 121.6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in August, up 16.2 percent year on year. Among them, Sichuan delivered 20.7 billion KWH, up 13.6 percent year on year; Yunnan delivered 18 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, up 4.1% year on year; Inner Mongolia delivered 14.2 billion KWH, up 9.4% year on year; Shanxi delivered 10.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, up 22.8% year on year; Hubei delivered 8.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, down 7.8 percent year on year; Guizhou delivered 8.4 billion KWH of electricity, up 1.7 percent year on year; Anhui delivered 5.7 billion KWH, up 43.4 percent year on year; Ningxia delivered 5.4 billion KWH of electricity, up 74.3 percent year on year; Xinjiang delivered 4 billion KWH of electricity, up 14.8 percent year on year; Gansu delivered 3.7 billion KWH of electricity, up 108.8 percent year on year; Shaanxi delivered 3.7 billion kilowatt-hours, up 21.9 percent year on year.
7. Newly installed solar power generation increased significantly year-on-year, driving the increase of newly installed power generation nationwide year-on-year
From January to August, the country's infrastructure added 81.67 million kw of power generation capacity, 13.14 million kW more than the same period last year. Of this total, 7.82 million kW is hydropower, 25.89 million kW is thermal power, 1.09 million kW is nuclear power, 8.59 million kW is wind power and 38.28 million kW is solar power. Hydropower, wind and solar power were put into production by 52 million kW, 117 million kw and 16.49 million kW more than the same period last year. Thermal power and nuclear power were put into production by 286 million kW and 2.18 million kW less than the same period last year.
8. The completed investment in power supply decreased year-on-year, while the completed investment in power grid increased year-on-year
During the first eight months of this year, major power generation enterprises invested 146.1 billion yuan in power supply projects, down 14.2 percent year on year. Of which, hydropower was 28.5 billion yuan, down 8.0 percent year on year; Thermal power 42.4 billion yuan, down 23.3% year on year; Nuclear power was 24.2 billion yuan, down 15.8% year on year; Wind power was 32.8 billion yuan, down 14.5 percent year on year. Hydropower, nuclear power, wind power and other clean energy investments accounted for 71.0 percent of total power investment, 3.4 percentage points higher than the same period last year.