Power consumption continues to grow in first 8 months despite marginal blips

China's power consumption continued to grow in the first eight months of this year, despite marginal blips from rising trade tensions and lower industrial off-take.

Power consumption in the first eight months rose 4.4 percent year-on-year to 4.7 trillion kilowatt-hours, according to data from the National Energy Administration.

Lin Boqiang, head of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University said that the growth rate slipped from 9 percent in 2018, mainly due to the structural changes in China's economy, with the government shifting more focus to the tertiary sector amid growing uncertainties from international trade relations.

"Even among secondary industries, which took up nearly 70 percent of the total power consumed, a growing number of businesses are embracing energy-efficient and low-carbon production processes to achieve high-quality development. That may have an influence over power consumption in the sector,"Lin said.

Lin added that the lingering trade tension in global markets also had an impact over businesses in the secondary sector, which was reflected in the total power consumption in the sector.

In the first eight months of this year, power consumption in the secondary sector edged up 3 percent to 3.2 trillion kWh. The growth rate was down from 7.3 percent in the first eight months of 2018.

China's power consumption is likely to see steady growth during the rest of 2019, said an industry report by the China Electricity Council, a nonprofit association of power companies and institutions.

The report said China's total power consumption will increase 5.5 percent year-on-year in 2019 from 6.8 trillion kWh last year. It also pointed out the actual growth rate might be lower than the prediction if the average temperature this summer is lower than that of last year.

Total installed capacity is likely to reach 2 billion kilowatts by the end of this year, a year ahead of the goals set to be met by 2020. Installed capacity of non-fossil electricity will account for 42 percent and reach 840 million kilowatts, the report said.

Yu Chongde, a spokesman for the CEC, said that by the end of this year installed capacity for solar power will surpass 110 million kilowatts across the country, a goal that was originally set for 2020.

"That marks a great step in China's efforts to achieve green production and sustainable economic development," said Lin.