China’s power consumption jumps three-fold in July

Power consumption by China jumped more than three-fold during the month of July, compared to the same period a year ago, data released by the country’s economic planner confirmed Tuesday.

In July alone, electricity consumption totaled 552.3 billion kilowatt hours, data released by the National Development and Reform Commission showed Tuesday.  China's power consumption rose by 8.2 percent y/y in July after 2.6 percent y/y in June, the data showed.

Power consumption totalled 3.31 trillion kilowatt hours in the first seven months of this year, up 3.6 percent from the same period last year, Reuters reported, citing, Zhao Chenxin, spokesman for the NDRC.

Moreover, electricity use in the service sector and agricultural sector rose 10.2 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively, in the January-June period, while the industrial sector saw an increase of 1.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the average use time for hydraulic power production equipment increased in the first seven months, while that for coal-fired power production equipment dropped, official data showed.