China’s 2015 power consumption rose 0.5%

By REUTERS

China’s power consumption in 2015 rose 0.5% from a year earlier to 5.550 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh), figures from the National Energy Administration (NEA) showed.

The NEA did not break out figures for December, or for wind and solar power. But Reuters calculations suggest that China’s power consumption stood at 500.7 billion kWh in December, down 2.1% on-year.

Total generating capacity rose 10.4% in 2015, with a 29.9% jump in nuclear power capacity, the administration said in a statement published on its website (www.nea.gov.cn).

Thermal power, mainly coal, accounted for 65.7%of China’s total power generating capacity by the end of the year, down from 67.3 percent in 2014.

Nur Bekri, head of the NEA, said in December that coal will make up 62.6% of the country’s primary energy needs in 2016, as opposed to 64.4% last year, according to official state news agency Xinhua.