China's 2010 power consumption may increase 7%

2010-01-19 06:02:36.823 GMT

Jan. 19, 2010 (China Knowledge) - China's 2010 power consumption may increase by 7% from a year earlier if the country's GDP could grow 8% this year, the China Daily reported, citing Wang Xudong, chief of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, as saying.

Wang said at a meeting of the SERC that the power consumption is expected to steadily rise to 3.9 trillion kilowatt hours as China's economy would maintain a steady growth this year.

Wang noted that some regions may suffer from seasonal power supply shortage this year as uncertainties remain in coal supply, coal price, transportation and weather.

China would further support the development of new energy and the construction of energy bases, including the development of coal, hydro and wind power in northern and western China and nuclear power in central and eastern regions, he said.

In 2009, China's power consumption totaled 3.66 trillion kW hours, 6.44% more than a year earlier, despite a slump in the first half of last year due to global economic recession.

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