Energy

China's power generation capacity leaps above 900m kW

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-20 16:47

BEIJING - China's installed power generation capacity has exceeded 900 million kilowatts Monday after a reactor with the second phase of Ling'ao Nuclear Power Plant began operation in Guangdong province, chief of the country's top economic planner said.

Zhang Ping, director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), hailed the achievement as "a new stage of development" for China's power industry at a forum held in Beijing on nuclear power development.

"Starting from a weak basis, we have explored a path of healthy development for the country's electricity industry," Zhang told the forum.

According to the NDRC, it took China 38 years to raise its power generating capacity to 100 million kilowatts in 1987 from 1.85 million kilowatts when new China was founded in 1949.

Before topping the key mark of 900 million kilowatts, China lifted its electricity generating capacity to 500 million kilowatts in 2005.

Mooncake ingredients costs rise Related readings:  China a world leader in alternative power development  Power use surges 14.7% in Aug  NW China province to transmit power to Tibet  Power cuts call for energy efficiency

Zhang said China will continue to transform the growth pattern of the electricity industry and further facilitate its restructuring by producing more clean energy.

He said during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) period, China has cut capacity at small thermal power plants by 71 million kilowatts to reduce heavy pollution emissions.

China now has the world's largest hydro power capacity of about 200 million kilowatts, and 22 million kilowatts of wind power capacity.

With 10 million kilowatts of capacity at six nuclear power plants, China plans to raise its nuclear power capacity to 60 million kilowatts by 2020, Zhang Guobao, director of the National Energy Administration (NEA), said in an interview last month.

China has long relied on coal to fuel its economic growth as about three quarters of its electricity output is produced by coal-fired power stations.

China's power consumption reached 397.5 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in August, up 14.69 percent year-on-year, according to the NEA statistics released this month.