GUANGZHOU: Guangdong will face a serious power crisis this year, with consumption forecast to increase by 13 percent compared with last year, the provincial economic and trade commission said on Tuesday.

The province used 253 billion kWh of power in the first three quarters of last year, a year-on-year increase of about 14 percent.

This summer alone, demand is projected to increase by around 7.5 million kW, or 6.5 million kW more than the maximum supply.

The China Southern Power Grid Corporation said the shortfall will be larger if problems such as a generator malfunctions or fuel shortages occurred.

Last year, the secondary industries, which include the manufacturing, construction and extractive industries, consumed more than 70 percent of the province's total electricity.

Secondary industries' use of power grew at a rate faster than that of both primary industries (agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fisheries) and individuals.

The situation will be similar this year, a senior official with the commission has said.

Mo Jianbin, director of the commission's power and electricity division, said: "Building more electricity generators, economizing on electricity, staggering power consumption and purchasing power from other places are some of the solutions to the power crisis."

He said the commission will try to secure more electricity from southwestern provinces and the Three Gorges Power Plant.

Last year, the province purchased more than 2 billion kWh worth of electricity from Hong Kong, and expects to buy even more this year, he said.

Meanwhile, the commission also released information about economic development and a range of energy-saving projects in the province last year.

Tong Xing, the provincial vice-governor, said that energy use per unit of GDP during the first three quarters of last year fell 4.13 percent compared with the year before.

He predicted that the rate would fall to 3.5 percent this year.

The province's industrial output rose by 17 percent last year, significantly higher than the 15.1 percent average annual growth rate over the past decade.

(China Daily 01/11/2008 page5)