China winter power woes seen less severe than in summer

Officals of China's State Electricity Regulatory Commission expect the country's power shortfall in the coming winter and spring to  be less severe than during the summer.

The maximum power shortage will be about 26 gigawatts during the winter and spring, compared with 30 GW deficit in the summer, when 17 provinces restricted power consumption or shifted demand from peak hours, said SERC spokesman Tan Rongyao.

China had 966 GW of power generating capacity at the beginning of this year.

The shortage estimate was smaller than forecasts made by local grids or local governments and compiled by Reuters.

But Tan also said the winter shortage could be higher than expected if coal supplies were not guaranteed and the weather turned out to be colder than normal.

Coal prices will stay at their elevated levels and even climb higher for a period of time, exacerbating tightness in coal supplies in some regions, Tan was quoted as saying.

The key solution to power shortages is to push forward power price reform, raise grid feed-in power prices for coal-fired power plants in some regions and charge higher prices on energy-intensive users, Tan said.

The full story is available at Reuters.