(Source: "China Electric Power News" July 18, 2024)

"In the first half of the year, factors such as the continued release of macro-policy effects, a rebound in external demand, and the accelerated development of new productive forces formed new support. Overall, the national economy continued to recover in the first half of the year, and the operation was generally stable with progress while maintaining stability. The results are hard-won." This is what the spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics revealed when interpreting the operation of the national economy in the first half of the year.

Data shows that in the first half of the year, my country's economy was generally stable, with a GDP of 61.7 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.0%. Focusing on the energy field, from January to June, with the orderly release of advanced coal production capacity, my country's energy supply security capabilities were further improved, the decline in raw coal production narrowed, crude oil production grew steadily, natural gas production hit a record high, power production accelerated year-on-year, and energy production was generally stable.

“In the first half of the year, the foundation of energy supply guarantee was further consolidated, the results of energy conservation and consumption reduction in key areas gradually emerged, the new energy industry developed rapidly, the energy consumption of the whole society continued to grow, the proportion of clean energy consumption increased significantly, and the green and low-carbon transformation continued to accelerate.” said Hu Hanzhou, director of the Energy Statistics Department of the National Bureau of Statistics.

Energy supply guarantee capability further improved

“I think the word ‘stable’ can be used to describe the energy supply situation in the first half of the year.”Dong Xiucheng, Executive Dean of the China International Carbon Neutral Economic Research Institute, w88 casinorepresents.

Specifically, in June, the raw coal output of my country's above-scale industries (hereinafter referred to as "industrials above designated size") was 410 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%, and the growth rate turned from negative to positive, with a decrease of 0.8% in May; from January to June, the raw coal output of industries above designated size was 2.27 billion tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1.7%, and the decline was 2.4 percentage points narrower than the first quarter.

“my country’s coal supply maintained a good momentum in the first half of the year.” Lin Boqiang, dean of the China Energy Policy Research Institute of Xiamen University, said, “In fact, coal prices can be used as a reference indicator. When coal prices are stable or low, it also means that the supply situation is relatively loose.”

From the perspective of coal layout, Hu Hanzhou pointed out that my country’s coal production layout continued to be optimized in the first half of the year. More than 80% of raw coal is supplied by Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi and Xinjiang.

In terms of oil and gas, in the first half of the year, my country's industrial crude oil output was 107.05 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 1.9%; industrial natural gas output was 123.6 billion cubic meters, a year-on-year increase of 6.0%.

"The situation of stable and increased oil and gas production is good, and the supply guarantee capability has been steadily improved. In the first half of the year, industrial natural gas production above designated size hit a record high for the same period in history." Hu Hanzhou said.

Regarding the rising trend of natural gas production,Dong Xiuchengbelieves that natural gas, as a transitional energy source in the energy transition, has high-quality characteristics such as cleanliness and high efficiency. In recent years, oil and gas companies such as "Three Barrel Oil" have taken natural gas as an important growth point and increased investment in natural gas exploration and development. my country has made varying degrees of progress in the fields of conventional natural gas and unconventional natural gas such as shale gas, laying the foundation for increasing natural gas production.

Focusing on the electric power sector, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of the year, my country's industrial power generation above designated size was 4.4 trillion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%, an acceleration of 1.4 percentage points from the same period last year. Among them, thermal power increased by 1.7%, and hydropower, nuclear power, wind power and solar power increased by 21.4%, 0.1%, 6.9% and 27.1% respectively. Clean electricity is growing rapidly.

In this regard, Wu Jiang, a member of the Energy System Special Committee of the Chinese Society of Electrical Engineering, said that the increase in electricity consumption in the first half of the year was due to better water conditions, which promoted a substantial increase in hydropower generation; on the other hand, it was the continuous growth of photovoltaic output.

“The incoming water factor has certain stage fluctuations, and the growth of solar power generation is a change in the installed power generation structure. If this trend can be continued, it will also provide effective support for my country’s power supply.” Wu Jiang pointed out.

The proportion of clean energy consumption compared with the same period last yearIncreased by 2.2 percentage points

“In addition to stable supply, my country’s energy production and consumption structure has also continued to optimize in the first half of the year, and the new energy industry has achieved rapid development.”Dong Xiuchengrepresents.

In terms of installed capacity, according to data released by the National Energy Administration, as of the end of May, my country's cumulative installed power generation capacity was approximately 3.04 billion kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 14.1%. Among them, the installed capacity of solar power generation is approximately 690 million kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 52.2%; the installed wind power capacity is approximately 460 million kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 20.5%.

Focusing on the consumption side, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, preliminary calculations show that total energy consumption in the first half of the year increased by about 4.7% year-on-year, about 0.5 percentage points slower than the first quarter. At the same time, the proportion of clean energy consumption such as natural gas, water, nuclear, wind and photovoltaics increased by 2.2 percentage points compared with the same period last year, further highlighting the background of green and clean energy.

"Green is the background of high-quality development, and new productivity itself is green productivity. In compliance with the new trend of green and low-carbon development, my country's new energy industry relies on continuous technological innovation and a complete industrial chain system to achieve rapid growth." The above-mentioned National Bureau of Statistics spokesperson said when introducing the highlights of the high-quality economic development process in the first half of the year.

At the same time, the photovoltaic industry chain is growing well, with the output of the main raw materials polycrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon, and ultra-white glass for solar industry increasing by 55.4%, 43.6%, and 42.8% respectively year-on-year. The construction of a clean energy system is accelerated, energy conservation and carbon reduction in key areas are advanced in an orderly manner, and green production methods and lifestyles are gradually formed.

In addition, when introducing the achievements in green and low-carbon transformation, the person in charge also mentioned relevant data on new energy vehicles.

It is understood that my country's new energy vehicle production and sales have ranked first in the world for nine consecutive years. In the first half of this year, the output of new energy vehicles increased by 34.3% year-on-year, and the output of supporting products such as charging piles and automotive lithium-ion power batteries increased by 25.4% and 16.5% respectively.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers also revealed that in the first half of this year, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in my country were 4.929 million and 4.944 million respectively, with a market share of 35.2%. As of the end of June this year, the cumulative production and sales of domestic new energy vehicles exceeded 30 million.

“The new energy vehicle industry has achieved good results in the first half of the year. In my opinion, this hot trend is expected to continue in the second half of the year, and the market share of new energy vehicles is also expected to further increase.”Dong XiuchengPrediction.

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