Posted on 20 Apr 2022
China's energy supply including the production of fossil fuels and generated power remained largely stable over the January-March quarter, NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui remarked at a press conference held on April 18. During the quarter, the country's overall energy consumption continued to record growth.
"Affected by geopolitical conflicts, rapidly rising international energy commodity prices, and an unstable international energy market, China's energy security is under certain pressure," Fu admitted. "But we have the conditions, ability and means to ensure a secure, reliable, and stable domestic energy supply," he stressed. China will continue to actively lift its energy supply, he predicted.
Over January-March, China's production of raw coal, the country's core energy source, increased by 10.3% on year to 1,080 million tonnes, the data show. The jump followed central government measures introduced to increase coal output and supply, and to stabilize the market, with the accelerated release of quality coal capacity, as reported. Coal output in March alone reached 396 million tonnes, higher by a more significant 14.8% on year.
Other than coal, China's combined output of crude oil and natural gas recorded an on-year increase too in January-March, according to the NBS's data.
On the other hand, Q1 saw the country's imports of coal, crude oil and natural gas generally decline, according to new data from the General Administration of Customs (GACC), with the reduction in crude oil imports leading to a slide in crude oil processing volume over the quarter.
Table 1: China's fossil fuels production, imports in Q1
Unit: million tonnes
| Jan-Mar | Y-o-Y (%) | Mar | Y-o-Y (%) |
Raw coal output | 1,080 | 10.3 | 396 | 14.8 |
Coal and lignite imports | 51.81 | -24.2 | 16.42 | -39.9 |
Crude oil processing | 171.44 | -1.5 | 58.59 | -2 |
Crude oil imports | 127.85 | -8.1 | 42.71 | -14 |
Crude oil production | 51.19 | 4.4 | 17.71 | 3.9 |
Natural gas output (bln cu m) | 56.9 | 6.6 | 19.7 | 6.3 |
Natural gas imports | 27.82 | -5.1 | 7.98 | -8.5 |
Source: NBS, GACC
Over January-March, the total of electricity generated in China increased by 3.1% on year to 1,992.2 billion kWh, with the growth being slower than the 4% on-year rise recorded over January-February.
Nevertheless, electricity generated from clean energy – namely hydro, nuclear, wind and solar – increased at the faster clip of 8.3%, with the growth pace being faster by 1.3 percentage points compared with Q1 last year.
In March alone, thermal power generation posted an on-year decrease of 5.7%, the data also showed.
Table 2: China's power generation by source in Q1
Unit: bln kWh
| Jan-Mar | Y-o-Y (%) | Mar | Y-o-Y (%) |
Total | 1,992.2 | 3.1 | 670.2 | 0.2 |
Thermal | 1461.4 | 1.3 | 468.8 | -5.7 |
Hydro | 221.2 | 12.7 | 80.5 | 19.8 |
Wind | 162.7 | 3.3 | 67.3 | 23.8 |
Nuclear | 99 | 6.9 | 35 | 2.2 |
Solar | 47.9 | 10.3 | 18.6 | 16.8 |
Source: NBS
Regarding domestic power consumption during January-March, this continued to grow, rising by 5% on year to 2,042.3 billion kWh in total, with consumption in the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries all increasing. But the quarterly growth rate was slightly slower than the 5.8% on-year increase recorded over the first two months.
Specifically, power consumption in the industrial sector gained by 3.1% on year to 1,298 billion kWh in Q1, as against the 3.6% on-year growth over January-February, according to new China Electricity Council (CEC) data. This accounted for 63.6% of the total power consumed.
Detailed CEC data also showed that power consumption by the four large energy-intensive industries edged up by 0.5% on year in Q1. The country's chemicals and non-ferrous industries consumed more power, with the total rising by 4.2% on year and 1.2% on year respectively. But construction materials manufacturing and China's ferrous industry saw their power usage decline over the three months.
Table 3: Power consumed by China's four largest energy-intensive industries in Q1
Unit: bln kWh
| Jan-Feb | Y-o-Y (%) | Mar | Y-o-Y (%) |
Non-ferrous | 172 | 1.2 | 60.6 | 3.5 |
Ferrous | 150.6 | -2.6 | 54 | 2 |
Chemical industry | 131.7 | 4.2 | 45.4 | 3 |
Construction materials | 79.7 | -1.2 | 32 | 9.4 |
Source: CEC
Source:Mysteel Global
