Electricity consumption in the tertiary industry is growing rapidly, and green energy is helping

The transformation of new and old kinetic energy is reflected in the changes in electricity users. In the first half of the year, electricity consumption in high-tech industries maintained rapid growth, and electricity consumption in information transmission, software and information technology services continued to maintain a rapid growth momentum, with a year-on-year increase of 13.6%.

Electricity production continues to develop in a green and low-carbon manner. The proportion of non-fossil energy power generation continues to increase, and power generation also grows rapidly. It is expected that by the end of this year, the national power generation installed capacity will be able to achieve the 2020 planned target of 2 billion kilowatts ahead of schedule.

"In the first half of the year, national electricity production and operation were stable, and electricity supply and demand were generally balanced. It is expected that electricity consumption will continue to grow steadily in the second half of the year, and the total social electricity consumption will increase by about 5.5% year-on-year." At the national electricity supply and demand situation analysis and forecast report meeting in the first half of 2019 held recently, Yu Chongde, full-time vice chairman and secretary-general of the China Electricity Council, said.

According to statistics, the total electricity consumption in the first half of the year was 3.40 trillion kWh, a year-on-year increase of 5.0%, with an increase of 5.5% and 4.5% in the first and second quarters respectively. From the characteristics of electricity consumption, the electricity consumption of the primary industry increased at a medium speed, the electricity consumption of the secondary industry and its manufacturing industry increased steadily, and the electricity consumption of the tertiary industry and urban and rural residents continued to maintain a rapid growth. Among them, the electricity consumption of the tertiary industry and residents accounted for 31% in total, an increase of 1.2 percentage points year-on-year; the electricity consumption of the secondary industry accounted for 68%, a year-on-year decrease of 1.2 percentage points; the electricity consumption of the primary industry accounted for the same as the previous year.

The transformation of old and new kinetic energy is reflected in the changes in electricity consumption. In the first half of the year, electricity consumption in high-tech industries maintained rapid growth, and electricity consumption in information transmission, software and information technology services continued to maintain a rapid growth momentum, with a year-on-year increase of 13.6%; the growth rate of electricity consumption in leasing and business services, real estate, wholesale and retail industries remained above double digits. It is worth noting that the continuous promotion of electric energy substitution has promoted the rapid growth of electricity consumption in the tertiary industry, with electricity consumption in the charging and swapping service industry increasing by 126.9%, electricity consumption in port shore power increasing by 316.9%, and electricity consumption in urban public transportation increasing by 18.6%.

In terms of regional electricity consumption, electricity consumption in most provinces increased in the first half of the year, with the growth rate in the central and western regions ahead of the eastern and northeastern regions. Except for Qinghai, Gansu and Shanghai, where electricity consumption decreased year-on-year, electricity consumption in 28 provinces increased. Among the 14 provinces whose electricity consumption growth rate exceeded the national average, except Hainan and Hebei, the rest were in the central and western regions.

"Electricity production continues to develop in a green and low-carbon manner, the proportion of non-fossil energy power generation continues to increase, and power generation also grows rapidly." Yu Chongde said that as of the end of June, the national total installed power generation capacity was 1.94 billion kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%. Among them, non-fossil energy power generation capacity accounted for 41.2%, an increase of 1.4 percentage points year-on-year; the power generation of power plants above designated size nationwide was 3.37 trillion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%; the number of hours of power generation equipment utilization nationwide was 1,834 hours, a year-on-year decrease of 24 hours.

In the first half of the year, the country's newly added installed power generation capacity was 40.74 million kilowatts, 11.94 million kilowatts less than the same period last year. Among them, the newly added non-fossil energy installed capacity was 25.06 million kilowatts, accounting for 61.5% of the total newly added installed capacity. The newly added coal-fired power generation capacity was 9.84 million kilowatts, 540,000 kilowatts less than the same period last year.

In the first half of the year, non-fossil energy power generation grew rapidly. The national hydropower generation of power plants above a certain scale was 513.8 billion kWh, an increase of 11.8% year-on-year; nuclear power generation was 160 billion kWh, an increase of 23.1% year-on-year; the full-caliber grid-connected wind power and grid-connected solar power generation were 214.5 billion kWh and 106.3 billion kWh, respectively, an increase of 11.5% and 29.1% year-on-year.

At the same time, the amount of electricity transmitted across regions and provinces has also achieved rapid growth, and clean energy has been optimized on a large scale. In the first half of the year, the amount of electricity transmitted across regions and provinces reached 224.3 billion kWh and 642.6 billion kWh, respectively, up 11.2% and 12.0% year-on-year. The Northwest region is the region with the largest amount of electricity transmitted, accounting for 40.6% of the country's inter-regional electricity transmission.

It is predicted that electricity consumption in the second half of the year will continue the steady growth trend in the first half of the year, and the total electricity consumption in society is expected to increase by about 5.5% year-on-year this year.

"The total installed power generation capacity is expected to reach 2 billion kilowatts by the end of the year, and the proportion of non-fossil energy installed capacity will increase to 42%." Yu Chongde said that by the end of this year, the national installed power generation capacity can complete the 2020 planned target of 2 billion kilowatts ahead of schedule, the installed capacity of solar power generation will far exceed the 2020 planned target of 110 million kilowatts, and the proportion of non-fossil energy power generation capacity will also exceed the 2020 planned target of 39%.

As my country has entered the critical period of peak summer demand and the task of ensuring power supply for major events in the second half of the year is relatively heavy, the China Electricity Council recommends that, in light of the tightening electricity supply and demand situation, we should accelerate the construction of system peak-shaving capacity and demand-side management, do a solid job in balancing electricity supply and demand, and ensure a safe and stable electricity supply.

(Originally published on July 29, Economic Daily, page 11)