Since this year, the country’s economy has continued to recover and energy demand has increased rapidly, with 278 GW solar installation completed during the first three quarters, said National Energy Administration (NEA) at the online press conference for the fourth quarter held on Monday.
YOY growth rate of energy consumption fell quarter by quarter
Since this year, the growth of energy consumption has shown a progressively diminishing trend, and the year-on-year growth rate has dropped quarter by quarter. The year-on-year growth rate in the third quarter has dropped by about 14.3% and 4.7% respectively compared with the first and the second quarter. Among them, the electricity consumption of the whole society increased by 7.6% year-on-year in the third quarter, down 13.7% and 4.2% respectively compared with the first and the second quarter.
Growth rate of energy consumption in high energy consuming industries dropped significantly
In the third quarter, the power consumption of the four high energy consuming industries increased by 2.2% year-on-year, down 16.7% and 7.3% respectively compared with the first and the second quarter, and the contribution rate to the growth of power consumption of the whole society decreased from 18.7% in June to -4.2% in September; The total gas consumption of chemical, ceramic, glass, steel and other industries increased by 9.4% year-on-year, down 43.1% and 17.6% respectively compared with the first and the second quarter, and the contribution rate to the growth of natural gas consumption decreased from 32.4% in June to 0.7% in September.
The coal consumption in the building materials industry has increased negatively year-on-year since May, and the coal consumption in the iron and steel industry has increased negatively year-on-year and month on month since June. The pulling effect of the three industries on the growth of power consumption of the whole society was improved, and the contribution rate increased from 29% in June to 31.6% in September.
Clean energy industry continues to grow
By the end of September, the total installed capacity of hydropower, nuclear power, wind power and solar power generation has reached 1,010 GW, accounting for 44.1% of the total installed capacity, an increase of 3% over the same period last year.
Tight energy supply in some areas
In August, affected by the low water inflow and high coal prices in the south, the peak capacity of thermal power units was insufficient. Four provinces (regions) in the South and west Inner Mongolia implemented orderly power consumption measures. Since September, the capacity of temporary maintenance units across the country has increased, the scope of orderly power consumption has been further expanded, and power rationing has occurred in some areas.
Renewable energy continued to maintain high-quality development
By the end of September 2021, the installed capacity of renewable energy power generation in China has reached 994 GW, including 384 GW of hydropower, 297 GW of wind power, 278 GW of solar photovoltaic power and 35.361 GW of biomass power generation.
From January to September 2021, China’s renewable energy power generation reached 1.75 trillion KWh. Among them, hydropower reached 903 billion KWh, a year-on-year decrease of 0.9%; 469.4 billion KWh of wind power, a year-on-year increase of 41.5%; 248.6 billion KWh of photovoltaic power, a year-on-year increase of 24.0%; and 120.6 billion KWh of biomass power a year-on-year increase of 25.7%.
The utilization rate of renewable energy during the period also remains high. From January to September 2021, the utilization rate of water energy in major river basins in China was about 97.6%, an increase of 1.5% over the same period of last year, and the amount of abandoned water and electricity was about 15.39 billion KWh; The average utilization rate of wind power was 96.9%, an increase of 0.3%, and the abandoned volume was about 14.78 billion KWh; Such rate of photovoltaic power generation was 98.0%, a decrease of 0.3%, about 5.02 billion KWh were wasted.
Construction and operation of photovoltaic power generation
From January to September 2021, some 25.56 GW of photovoltaic installation were added nationwide, including 9.15 GW of PV power stations and 16.41 GW of distributed projects. By the end of September 2021, the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation has reached 278 GW. The regions with high installed capacity are the north, east and central of the country, accounting for 44%, 19% and 17% of the newly installed capacity respectively.
From January to September 2021, the national photovoltaic power generation was 248.6 billion KWh, a year-on-year increase of 24.0%; The utilization hours were 919 hours, with a year-on-year increase of 3 hours; The regions with high utilization hours are 1,141 hours in northeast China and 1,010 hours in north China, among which the provinces with the highest utilization hours are 1,206 hours in Jilin Province, 1,204 hours in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and 1,197 hours in Heilongjiang Province.
From January to September 2021, the utilization rate of photovoltaic power generation in China was 98.0%, a year-on-year decrease of 0.3%, and about 5.02 billion KWh of power were wasted. The utilization rates of photovoltaic power generation in northwest and north of the country, which have prominent photovoltaic consumption problems, were 94.7% and 98.5% respectively, a year-on-year decrease of 1.2% and an increase of 0.2% respectively.
