REV615 On November 8, the National Energy Administration held a fourth quarter online press conference to release the energy situation and the operation of renewable energy in the first three quarters. According to the National Energy Administration, the energy consumption growth rate of high-energy-consuming industries fell significantly in the third quarter, and the electricity consumption of the four high-energy-consuming industries increased by 2.2% year-on-year, down 16.7 percentage points and 7.3 percentage points from the first quarter and the second quarter respectively.

REV615 The National Energy Administration pointed out that the energy structure continued to optimize in the first three quarters of 2021. Since the beginning of this year, China’s economy has continued to recover, and energy demand has grown rapidly. The National Energy Administration has thoroughly implemented the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and The State Council, strengthened the capacity building of energy security, and accelerated the green and low-carbon transformation of energy. The energy situation in the first three quarters can be summarized into four characteristics:

REV615 First, the year-on-year growth rate of energy consumption slowed down quarter by quarter. Since the beginning of this year, the growth of energy consumption has shown a “high before low” trend, the year-on-year growth rate has fallen quarter by quarter, and the year-on-year growth rate in the third quarter has fallen by about 14.3 percentage points and 4.7 percentage points compared with the first quarter and the second quarter respectively. Among them, the third quarter of the whole society’s electricity consumption increased by 7.6%, 13.7 percentage points lower than the first quarter, the second quarter, 4.2 percentage points; The growth rate of coal consumption in the third quarter fell by 13.1 percentage points and 2.8 percentage points from the first quarter and the second quarter respectively. The growth rate of natural gas consumption decreased by 10.5 percentage points and 9.5 percentage points from the first quarter and the second quarter respectively. The apparent consumption growth of refined oil products dropped by 14 percentage points and 6.7 percentage points compared with the first quarter and the second quarter, respectively.

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REV615 Second, the growth rate of energy use in energy-intensive industries has dropped significantly. In the third quarter, the electricity consumption of the four high-energy-consuming industries increased by 2.2% year-on-year, down 16.7 percentage points and 7.3 percentage points from the first quarter and the second quarter respectively, and their contribution to the growth of electricity consumption in the whole society dropped from 18.7% in June to -4.2% in September. The total gas consumption of chemical, ceramics, glass, steel and other industries increased by 9.4% year-on-year, down 43.1 percentage points and 17.6 percentage points from the first quarter and the second quarter respectively, and the contribution rate to the growth of natural gas consumption dropped from 32.4% in June to 0.7% in September. The coal used in the building materials industry has experienced negative year-on-year growth since May, and the coal used in the steel industry has experienced negative year-on-year and month-on-month growth since June. The contribution rate of the three industries to the growth of electricity consumption in the whole society increased from 29% in June to 31.6% in September.

REV615 Third, the clean energy industry continues to grow. Accelerate the construction of a new power system, and issue the Medium – and Long-Term Development Plan for Pumped Storage (2021-2035) and the Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Development of New Energy Storage to further expand the scale of clean energy consumption. By the end of September, the installed capacity of hydropower, nuclear power, wind power and solar power totaled 1.01 billion kilowatts, accounting for 44.1% of the total installed power capacity, an increase of 3 percentage points over the same period last year.

Fourth, energy supply is tight in some regions. After the two energy consumption peaks in the heating season and summer at the beginning of the year, in August, the peak capacity of thermal power units was insufficient due to the impact of the dry water and high coal prices in the southern region, and the four provinces (regions) in the southern region and Mengxi implemented orderly electricity consumption measures. Since September, the capacity of temporary maintenance units across the country has increased, the scope of orderly electricity consumption has been further expanded, and power rationing has occurred in individual areas.

The National Energy Administration said that in response to the above situation, the state quickly introduced a series of policy measures, at present, the coal production capacity to accelerate the release, increase production and supply has achieved obvious results, the average daily production to maintain a high level, the number of days available for thermal coal inventory to increase, coal prices fell; The power supply guarantee capacity has gradually increased, and the tension between supply and demand of electricity across the country has been eased, and there has been no more power rationing. In the next step, the National Energy Administration will thoroughly implement the decision and deployment of the Party Central Committee and The State Council on ensuring energy and power supply this winter and next spring and ensuring safe and warm winter, pay close attention to increasing coal production and supply, strengthen the connection of natural gas production, transportation, storage and sales, and fully ensure the safe supply of electricity.