China has stocked up enough gas and coal for peak electricity demand season this winter, the local power utility association has reported. An expected abundance in wind and solar generation should help secure electricity supply as well, Bloomberg noted in a report on the news.
Winter electricity supply fell short of demand several years ago in parts of China, resulting in extended power and heating outages. The cause of the shortage was an insufficient stock of natural gas. Since then, Chinese power suppliers have learned their lesson and been extra diligent about stockpiling energy commodities for winter.
Per the China Electricity Council report, demand for electricity this winter will grow at the fastest pace since the start of the year due to improving economic activity and the seasonal surge in heating demand. Bloomberg noted that coal generation has already started rising this month, after several subdued months when wind and solar had favorable weather for generation. Coal, meanwhile, remains instrumental for China’s energy supply security during peak demand season, the Electricity Council said in its report. The association noted there may be some supply tightness in the east and the north during peak hours.
Even so, coal generation, along with natural gas generation, declined last month, the latest data showed. Abundant hydropower generation was the reason, pushing coal and gas generation down to 517.5 billion kWh, from 627.4 billion kWh in August. The September decline, however, followed a sharp increase in July, in response to air conditioning demand.
Despite these fluctuations in power output from hydrocarbon sources, China’s emissions from the power generation sector fell to a record low over the first half of the year thanks to higher output from non-hydrocarbon sources, including wind, solar, and hydropower. These generated 23% more electricity over the six-month period compared with a year earlier, while output from thermal power plants ticked down by 4%.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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