China Electricity Consumption to almost Double by 2020

BEIJING, Dec. 23 -- The China Electricity Council (CEC) projected Tuesday the country's electricity consumption will almost double from the 2010 level to 8.2 trillion kWh by 2020.

In a report on the electricity industry's development in the 12th Five-year Program period (2011-2015), the CEC said electricity consumption this year will reach 4.17 trillion kWh and increase to 6.27 trillion kWh by 2015.

China's installed power generating capacity will grow from this year's 950 million kilowatts to 1.885 billion kilowatts by 2020, the CEC report said, adding that by 2020 about 36.3 percent of installed capacity will come from non-fossil fuels.

Over the next decade, China should prioritize developing hydropower capacity while optimizing its thermal power plants, the report said, adding that the nation should boost its development of nuclear power and push forward power generation using new energy resources like wind power and solar power.

Regarding electricity prices, CEC Vice President Wei Zhaofeng said, "I expect an average year-on-year rate hike of around 3 percent from 2010 to 2020."

Wei said his estimate was based on analysis of on-going electricity price reform discussions, surging thermal coal prices, and electricity companies' average 8-percent annual return on net assets.

Electricity now costs about 0.6 yuan per kWh in China, the report said, forecasting the price to climb to 0.8 yuan per kWh by 2020.