China's July Power Output Dips as Fossil Fuel Generation Slips

China's total electricity generation recorded a slight year-on-year decline in July, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. The country produced 943.9 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power last month, a dip of 0.1% compared with the same period in the previous year.

Thermal power, which is predominantly generated by coal-fired plants, saw a more pronounced drop of 3.5% in July. However, over the first seven months of the year, thermal output still managed a cumulative increase of 1.8%.

In contrast, hydropower continued its upward trend, rising 6.7% in July and posting an 8.8% gain for the January-to-July period.

The statistics bureau's figures cover output from industrial enterprises with annual revenue exceeding 20 million yuan (approximately $2.97 million), which means some small-scale renewable installations are not included. As a result, data from the National Energy Administration, typically released later in the month, can sometimes show an increase in power consumption even when the bureau's numbers indicate a marginal decline in generation.

For the first seven months of 2024 as a whole, total power generation reached 5.7 trillion kWh, up 3.0% year-on-year.