China's power consumption to rebound

BEIJING -- China's power consumption is expected to rise 4 percent to 6 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter as the country's economy is stabilizing, the China Electricity Council said on Tuesday.

That will bring electricity consumption in the entire year to 4.94 trillion kilowatt-hours, up 5 percent from a year earlier, the CEC said.

The country's total installed power generation capacity will hit 1.14 billion kilowatts at the end of this year, the CEC said.

Power demand and supply will be balanced because there are abundant coal stocks in most thermal power plants and hydropower plants, according to the CEC.

The country's northern regions will have power surpluses, but some areas in East China may face power shortages during peak periods due to short supplies of natural gas, said the CEC.

The CEC suggested that relevant authorities improve arrangements of winter power supplies in the northern regions and ensure the stable operation of the country's power system.

China's power consumption growth slowed further in September as factory activity and industrial output posted weaker increases amid the economic downturn.

The country's total electricity consumption grew only 2.9 percent from a year earlier to 405.1 billion kWh. The growth was 0.7 percentage point lower than that of August and 9.3 percentage points lower than that of September 2011, according to data from the National Energy Administration.