China pushes to ensure electricity supply to meet surging demand in peak summer

China is making new pushes to strengthen energy production and supply, with preparations for various power supply guarantees being made in advance to ensure electricity supply during the peak summer season, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Tuesday.

China's total installed power generation capacity continues to grow, NDRC spokesperson Li Chao told a press conference, noting coal reserves in centrally administrated power plants stand at 198 million tons. At the same time, the water storage for hydropower has been more favorable.

Li noted that these factors will set the basis for ensuring power supply during this summer, when intense heat waves are affecting a large swath of the country, particularly in eastern and southern regions where the onset of scorching summer days has occurred earlier than usual.

The NDRC spokesperson said that energy security and safety are crucial for the national economy and people's livelihood while calling for sufficient preparation measures to deal with inadvertent risks posed by extreme weather conditions.

China's National Climate Center said that temperatures across most parts of the country are expected to exceed regular seasonal averages. The early arrival of summer in East and South China may result in intense heat waves in some provinces while the northern regions are facing the most severe heat waves of the year.

The NDRC vowed to ensure a secure and stable electricity supply during the current peak summer season, by leveraging the inter-ministerial coordination mechanism across coal, oil, and gas supply sectors.

The focus will be on ensuring stable fuel supply, enhancing electricity generation capacity in key regions, balancing inter-provincial electricity supply, and improving demand-side management, according to the NDRC. The spokesperson called for concerted efforts to deal with elevated market demand for electricity.

From January to May, industrial electricity output from large-scale power generators in China reached 36,570 billion kilowatt-hours, up by 5.5 percent year-on-year. In May alone, electricity generation totaled 7,179 billion kilowatt-hours, rising 2.3 percent from the previous year, data from the NRDC showed.

In terms of electricity consumption, during the Jan-May period, China's total electricity consumption across all sectors saw a year-on-year growth of 8.6 percent.