BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s power consumption ticked up by a sluggish 1.3% in the first two months of the year because of an unseasonably warm winter, although the growth rate recovered to some 9% in February, National Energy Administration (NEA) data showed on Tuesday.
February power consumption was 743.7 billion kWh while that for the two months was 1.56 trillion kWh, according to the NEA data.
Data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday had reported that China’s power generation fell 1.3% for the first two months of the year – only the third dip for power generation during the January-February period since the 1990s.
Power generation and power demand tend to grow at a similar rate, although there can be discrepancies because of transmission loss, curtailment and other issues, analysts say.
The NBS and NEA data samples also vary because the NBS reports omit a portion of generation from China’s small-scale renewables, such as distributed solar.
For example, NBS data showed power generation grew 6.4% in the first half of 2024, but London-based think tank Ember, using data from the National Energy Administration, said that electricity output rose 7.3% in the same period.
The slower power consumption growth at the beginning of 2025 was partly down to China’s warmer than usual winter, which cut into power demand for heating, said S&P Global Commodities senior research analyst Bing Han, speaking in an online seminar on Tuesday, adding that base effects also played a role.
That was backed up by the Tuesday NEA data showing that residential power consumption fell 4.2% in February, while primary industry such as agriculture and mining used 10% more power and secondary industry – which encompasses manufacturing – used 12% more.
Weaker demand for heating this winter weighed on coal-fired generation in particular, Han said, because of its use in the heating system. That led China’s thermal power generation to fall 6% in the two months, according to the NBS data, which it did not break out by month.
“As we enter the second and third quarter we believe power demand will rebound strongly,” Han said.
(Reporting by Colleen Howe, Editing by Louise Heavens)
