China’s fossil-fuelled power output falls 4.3% in August as clean energy gains
China's fossil-fuelled power generation fell 4.3% in August from a year earlier, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Tuesday, as rising hydropower, nuclear and renewable output cut into coal's share.
It was the second month in a row of declines for China’s fossil-fuelled or thermal power generation, which is mostly from coal with a small amount from natural gas.
“Power generation from coal and gas fell 4% in China in August, as solar and wind covered all electricity demand growth and hydropower and nuclear grew as well,” the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air co-founder Lauri Myllyvirta wrote in a LinkedIn post, adding that “wind power generation rebounded from the slump of the earlier months of the year.”
Thermal electricity generation still rose 0.9% over the first eight months as a whole, dragged down by the earlier months of the year because of poor wind speeds and maintenance at nuclear units.
Hydropower volumes rose 2.8% in August and 7.8% over the first eight months.
Nuclear power generation rose 9.4% from a year earlier. Two new nuclear reactors, the Guangdong Taipingling nuclear power plant and unit 3 of the Changjiang nuclear power plant, started operations in August, according to state media. Over the first eight months, it rose 1.6%.
China generated 943.8 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power in August, down 0.8% compared with the same period of last year, the statistics bureau figures also showed. However, the data reflects output from industrial enterprises with revenue above 20 million yuan ($2.98 million), so excludes some small-scale renewables and generally undercounts total power generation as well as wind and solar.
The data showed that solar and wind generation rose 10.3% and 7.9%, respectively, from a year earlier.
Over the first eight months as a whole, power generation reached 6.65 trillion kWh, up 2.4% compared with the same period of last year, the data showed.