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China's electric power sector
reaches growth
limit
BEIJING - Industry
analysts have warned that China's construction of
electric power plants has reached a growth limit
and urged the country to make immense efforts to
conserve in a bid to deal with a continuing
electricity shortage.
Since China started
its economic reforms in 1978, the installed
capacity of electric power has increased rapidly.
Especially since the start of the 21st century,
the country's demand for electric power has risen
sharply, leading to continuing shortages of
electricity.
China's total installed
capacity reached 440 million kilowatts (kW) by
2004, and is expected to reach 500-510 million kW
by the end of 2005. The electric power industry
has developed by leaps and bounds when one
considers the road it has taken. It took 108 years
to bring installed capacity from nothing in 1879
to 100 million kW in 1987, and then only eight
years to achieve the second 100 million kW between
1987 to 1995. The third 100 million kW was built
in five years from 1995 to 2000, and then the
fourth 100 million kW in four years from 2000 to
2004.
Total installed capacity is forecast
to increase 60-70 million kW in 2005. Since 1980,
China has led the world in growth of electricity
production. Its average annual increase of
installed capacity increased 7.98% in the
1980-2002 period, 5.3 percentage points higher
than the world's average level, and six percentage
points higher than that of developed countries in
Europe and the United States.
Thanks to
the fast growth in installed capacity, China's
installed capacity ranking globally has risen
continually. It ranked seventh in the world after
the United States, Russia, Japan, Germany, Canada
and Britain in 1980, but jumped to the second
place in 1996, trailing only the United States.
At present, China's installed capacity and
annual output of electricity is only about half
that of the United States, which is the biggest
country in terms of installed capacity and annual
production of electricity in the world. Installed
capacity increased by 8 million kW in the US in
1992-2000, while that in China increased by 19
million kW. China's annual increase in installed
capacity reached 50 million kW in 2004, and is
forecast to reach 60-70 million kW in 2005, about
one or two times more than that of the US.
China's output of electricity increased by
281.8 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) in 2004, about
50% of the world increase in electricity output in
that year. But the present speed of China's power
construction is already very fast and may have
reached a limit in terms of growth rate.
Therefore, the country should pay more attention
to energy conservation and control of domestic
demand, according to industry experts.
China produced 193,125 million kWh of
electricity in December 2004. The annual output in
2004 reached 2,130,228 million kWh, up 14.9% year
on year, according to the National Bureau of
Statistics. Of the energy produced in December,
163,636 million kWh was produced by thermal power,
which accounted for a 2004 output of 1,770,171
million kWh, up 14.4% year on year, according to
the National Bureau of Statistics. 22,271 million
kWh of hydroelectric power was produced in the
same month; hydroelectric output in 2004 reached
306,523 million kWh, up 17.6% year on year.
Lastly, 3,880 million kWh of nuclear power was
produced in December 2004. Nuclear power output in
2004 reached 50,007 million kWh, up 14.2% year on
year.
(Asia
Pulse/XIC) |
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