Power generation from coal and gas in China declined by 5.4% on higher hydropower output, official data showed today, as cited by Reuters.
Thermal power plant output fell to 517.5 billion kWh last month, from 627.4 billion kWh in August. The August output, however, was boosted by higher demand due to air-conditioning.
Over the first nine months of the year, power generation from coal and gas in China declined by 1.2%.
In September, hydropower output jumped by 31.9% on the year, contributing to a total power generation increase of 1.5% from a year earlier, for a total of 826.2 billion kWh.
Just two months earlier, however, generation from coal and gas surged to the highest in a year on surging demand amid the summer heat. The combined output of coal and gas plants added 4.3% in July, to a total of 602 billion kWh, with wind and solar unable to respond to the higher demand as promptly as dispatchable power capacity.
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%.
The ramp-up of wind and solar output is the result of a breakneck increase in generation capacity—but coal capacity is also on the rise. After a decline in new coal power plant permits last year, these are once again on the rise, Greenpeace complained recently. China approved 11.29 GW of new coal power capacity in the first quarter of 2025. This pace of coal-fired generation capacity approvals already exceeds the 10 GW China approved in the first half of 2024.
China is also boosting domestic gas production in evidence of its all-of-the-above approach to energy security. This boost has led to a 12% annual decline in imports of liquefied natural gas as of June, in combination with higher pipeline imports from Russia.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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