Latest news with #NationalEnergyAdministration
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Electricity Demand Defies China Slowdown Fears
China's economy is set to grow at lower rates than previously expected as the U.S.-China trade war will take its toll on the GDP of the world's second-largest economy after the United States. Yet, figures about Chinese power generation and consumption haven't dropped—consumption has even held strong at the start of the year. The manufacturing sector, which accounts for two-thirds of China's power demand, continues to grow, but growth slowed in April to 6.1% from a year earlier, from a 7.7% increase in March. The real impact of the trade and tariff war is set to be felt in the coming months. For now, China's economy appears to be not as gloomy as feared. Power consumption shows resilience, and certain figures in the electricity sector support the view that Chinese growth may not be as soft as predicted. Some data points in the electricity sector show a more resilient Chinese economy than previously expected. China's growth in electricity generation, in particular, doesn't look weak at all, considering a warmer winter with lower power demand and the fact that official Chinese statistics exclude small-scale electricity generators and residential rooftop solar, Reuters columnist Clyde Russell from the National Energy Administration (NEA) of China showed that the country's power consumption rose at a much higher rate compared to the power generation growth in figures by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). In March, China's power consumption rose by 4.8%. The pace of growth held in April, too, with power demand up by 4.7%. Chinese use of electricity increased to 772.1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in April, according to the National Energy Administration. Electricity consumption in the primary and secondary industries increased by 13.8% and 3% year on year, respectively, while power demand in the services sector rose by 9%, according to China's official data. Total power consumption also rose in the first four months of the year, by 3.1% from a year earlier. Power demand is often viewed as a key indicator of a manufacturing-oriented economy. So far this year, China's electricity generation and consumption signal that the effects of the trade war will be seen further down the road. The fact that small-scale generators and residential rooftop solar are not included in generation data could suggest that the Chinese power sector could be stronger than it appears to be. China installed a record 60 gigawatts (GW) of new solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the first quarter of 2025 – the highest ever recorded in a first quarter in the country's history, Rystad Energy said in new research last week. Rooftop PV accounted for 60%, or 36 GW, of that total, marking the largest quarterly capacity addition for distributed PV in China's history. Rystad Energy also believes that the surge in rooftop PV installations will continue into the second quarter of the year, pushing total distributed solar capacity additions for 2025 to 130 GW, comprising 92 GW from commercial and industrial (C&I) projects and 38 GW from residential projects. Chinese industrial output rose by 6.1% in April, beating analyst estimates of 5.5% growth. This signaled that the effects of the U.S. tariffs – now at 30% during the 90-day trade truce announced last week – were not as severe as expected, at least for now. Sure, most uncertainties remain even after the U.S.-Chinese agreement to pause the 100%-plus tariffs on each other's goods. Even the Chinese national statistics bureau said, 'We should be aware that there are still many unstable and uncertain factors in [the] external environment.' Uncertainty is the keyword in all economic and global energy and oil demand analyses in recent months. China appears to be handling the initial tariff shock well, but the next few months will show where the world's second-biggest economy is headed. By Tsvetana Paraskova for More Top Reads From this article on
South China Morning Post
29-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China leads global hydrogen production amid clean energy race
China accounted for more than a third of global hydrogen output last year, making it possibly the biggest producer as the country reached a critical point to push for large-scale projects. Advertisement The country produced about 36.5 million tons of hydrogen last year, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said in a report on Monday. Fossil fuel-based hydrogen remains the dominant source, accounting for 56 per cent of the production, while hydrogen generated through electrolysis process amounted to only 320,000 tons, it said. Global hydrogen production probably reached 100 million tons in 2024, according to an estimate by Paris-based International Energy Agency, up from about 97 million tons in 2023. 2025 is a crucial year for driving China's hydrogen industry towards large-scale development, an NEA official said. The country still faces challenges, such as improving the economic viability of hydrogen projects and industry standards, said Xu Jilin, deputy director general of the Department of Energy Conservation and Science and Technology Equipment. Beijing would increase its support to spur innovation and international cooperation in the next five years, he added. 01:36 China's largest photothermal power facility drives development of new form of energy China's largest photothermal power facility drives development of new form of energy 'The number of planned large-scale renewable hydrogen projects is growing quickly, but the technology and operations still lag behind traditional methods,' he said. 'This has resulted in slow implementation and limited exploration of application scenarios.'
Al Etihad
25-04-2025
- Business
- Al Etihad
China's wind, solar capacity exceeds thermal power for first time, energy regulator says
25 Apr 2025 23:30 SINGAPORE (REUTERS)China's wind and solar power generation capacity surged to 1,482 gigawatts by the end of March, exceeding fossil fuel-based thermal power capacity for the first time in its history, the country's energy regulator said on China is one of a small number of countries still commissioning new carbon-intensive coal-fired power, it has embarked on a rapid renewable power expansion programme, with new installations reaching record levels in recent set a goal to raise wind and solar capacity to 1,200 GW by 2030 and met the target six years early last year. Campaigners have urged Beijing to double the access remains a problem. While the share of renewable capacity in China's power mix has risen, its share of power generation has not increased accordingly, with grid firms still prioritising electricity supplied by fossil fuel National Energy Administration said on Friday that wind and solar accounted for 22.5% of the electricity delivered to consumers in the first quarter of this year, even though they make up more than half of total installed with the French investment group Natixis said this year that waning overseas demand for China's turbines and panels, driven in part by rising protectionism, had encouraged it to "front-load" new renewable energy capacity at home, even though its grids were not yet equipped to receive it. As a consequence, much of its wind and solar energy has been going to China has pledged to reduce its dependence on coal, the country started building another 99.5 GW of coal-fired power capacity in 2024. It says new coal-fired projects will provide "baseload" support for renewables, which partly rely on intermittent sources of is the world's biggest carbon dioxide emitter and owns the largest fleet of coal-burning power plants in the world. It has promised to reduce coal consumption over the 2026-2030 period and aims to bring CO2 emissions to a peak before the end of the decade.
Hindustan Times
25-04-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
China's wind, solar capacity exceeds thermal power for first time, energy regulator says
* China's wind, solar capacity tops thermal capacity for first time * Grid access still a challenge for renewable energy providers * China still commissioning high-emitting coal-fired power plants SINGORE, - China's wind and solar power generation capacity surged to 1,482 gigawatts by the end of March, exceeding fossil fuel-based thermal power capacity for the first time in its history, the country's energy regulator said on Friday. Though China is one of a small number of countries still commissioning new carbon-intensive coal-fired power, it has embarked on a rapid renewable power expansion programme, with new installations reaching record levels in recent years. It set a goal to raise wind and solar capacity to 1,200 GW by 2030, and met the target six years early last year. Campaigners have urged Beijing to double the target. Grid access remains a problem. While the share of renewable capacity in China's power mix has risen, its share of power generation has not increased accordingly, with grid firms still prioritising electricity supplied by fossil fuel plants. The National Energy Administration said on Friday that wind and solar accounted for 22.5% of the electricity delivered to consumers in the first quarter of this year, even though they make up more than half of total installed capacity. Researchers with the French investment group Natixis said this year that waning overseas demand for China's turbines and panels, driven in part by rising protectionism, had encouraged it to "front-load" new renewable energy capacity at home, even though its grids were not yet equipped to receive it. As a consequence, much of its wind and solar energy has been going to waste. Though China has pledged to reduce its dependence on coal, the country started building another 99.5 GW of coal-fired power capacity in 2024. It says new coal-fired projects will provide "baseload" support for renewables, which partly rely on intermittent sources of energy. China is the world's biggest carbon dioxide emitter, and owns the largest fleet of coal-burning power plants in the world. It has promised to reduce coal consumption over the 2026-2030 period, and aims to bring CO2 emissions to a peak before the end of the decade. It has also pledged to the United Nations' Paris Agreement to cut 2005 levels of carbon intensity - emissions generated per unit of GDP growth - by 65% before 2030. It remains "badly off track" on the targets and newly commissioned coal plants could continue to "crowd out" clean energy, said Lauri Myllyvirta, senior fellow with the Asia Society Policy Institute. "After several years of slow progress, delivering China's headline commitment under the Paris agreement will be difficult," Myllyvirta said in a report published by Dialogue Earth on Thursday.
Zawya
25-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
China's wind, solar capacity exceeds thermal power for first time, energy regulator says
China's wind and solar power generation capacity surged to 1,482 gigawatts by the end of March, exceeding fossil fuel-based thermal power capacity for the first time in its history, the country's energy regulator said on Friday. Though China is one of a small number of countries still commissioning new carbon-intensive coal-fired power, it has embarked on a rapid renewable power expansion programme, with new installations reaching record levels in recent years. It set a goal to raise wind and solar capacity to 1,200 GW by 2030, and met the target six years early last year. Campaigners have urged Beijing to double the target. Grid access remains a problem. While the share of renewable capacity in China's power mix has risen, its share of power generation has not increased accordingly, with grid firms still prioritising electricity supplied by fossil fuel plants. The National Energy Administration said on Friday that wind and solar accounted for 22.5% of the electricity delivered to consumers in the first quarter of this year, even though they make up more than half of total installed capacity. Researchers with the French investment group Natixis said this year that waning overseas demand for China's turbines and panels, driven in part by rising protectionism, had encouraged it to "front-load" new renewable energy capacity at home, even though its grids were not yet equipped to receive it. As a consequence, much of its wind and solar energy has been going to waste. Though China has pledged to reduce its dependence on coal, the country started building another 99.5 GW of coal-fired power capacity in 2024. It says new coal-fired projects will provide "baseload" support for renewables, which partly rely on intermittent sources of energy. China is the world's biggest carbon dioxide emitter, and owns the largest fleet of coal-burning power plants in the world. It has promised to reduce coal consumption over the 2026-2030 period, and aims to bring CO2 emissions to a peak before the end of the decade. It has also pledged to the United Nations' Paris Agreement to cut 2005 levels of carbon intensity - emissions generated per unit of GDP growth - by 65% before 2030. It remains "badly off track" on the targets and newly commissioned coal plants could continue to "crowd out" clean energy, said Lauri Myllivirta, senior fellow with the Asia Society Policy Institute. "After several years of slow progress, delivering China's headline commitment under the Paris agreement will be difficult," Myllivirta said in a report published by Dialogue Earth on Thursday. (Reporting by David Stanway. Editing by Mark Potter)
