The acute tension between electricity supply and demand was somewhat relieved in the first half of this year compared with the same period of 2004, said an official with the China Electricity Council (CEC) Friday.

The overall power supply situation of the earlier period was more grave than the later period in the first six months of this year, and worsened in certain periods of time for such reasons as seasons, said Wang Yonggan, secretary-general of CEC.

China consumed 1148.699 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity with a year-on-year growth of 13.91 percent in the first six months, he said.

The first industry saw an electricity consumption of 34.045 billion kw-hour with a year-on-year growth of 5.82 percent, 4.07 percentage points higher than the growth rate of the same period of last year.

The second industry consumed 869.577 billion kw-hour, 14.17 percent more than a year ago. Thanks to the macro-control economic move of the central government, the growth rate is 3.23 percentage points lower than that in the first half of last year.

The third industry consumed 115.407 billion kw-hours, 9.13 percent more year on year, with the growth rate keeping the same level as a year ago.

Electricity used in daily life reached 129.669 billion kw-hours, 19.11 percent more year on year owing to winter heating and heavy use of household electrical appliances.

The growth rate is 11.3 percentage points higher than over a year ago, 5.2 percentage points higher than the average level of the country, said Wang.

Power-outages and supply restrictions at peak times appeared in 26 provincial power grids in the first quarter of this year and 18 provincial power grids in the second quarter, he said.

Due to frequent high temperatures in some regions since June, air conditioner use has added to the power load of regional power grids and nearly all those grids saw record-breaking maximum power loads. Only in June, 14 provincial power grids have to take power outages and supply restrictions measures.

According to statistics of CEC, China generated 1,128.632 billion kw-hour in the first half of this year, 13.2 percent higher year on year.

Hydropower generation reached 155.731 billion kw-hour with a year-on-year growth of 21.8 percent in the first half of this year. Coal-fired generation is 940.634 billion kw-hour, 11.8 percent higher than a year ago. Nuclear power increased by 15 percent year on year to 25.919 billion kw-hour in the first six months.

By the end of June, China boasted electricity capacity of 460 million kw, and the figure is estimated to exceed 500 million kw by the end of this year.

Source: Xinhua