<p> Electricity consumption in China hit a 11-month high to 509.7 TWh last month, up 3.0% from the year-ago level and up 9.87% from June, showed data released by the National Energy Administration (NEA) on August 14. </p> <p> July was the sixth consecutive month of year-on-year increase and the third month-on-month increase. </p> <p> Power consumption by the residential segment was 59.1 TWh in July, edging up 0.5% year on year and up 15.66% from June. </p> <p> For non-residential segment, the primary industries – mainly the agricultural sector – used 12.1 TWh of electricity in July, up 7.6% year on year and up 23.5% month on month. </p> <p> The secondary industries – mainly the industrial sector – consumed 376.9 TWh of electricity, up 3.0% on year and up 13.66% from June. </p> <p> Specifically, the industrial sector consumed 370.7 TWh of electricity in July, up 2.9% from the year before and up 8.3% from June, with the heavy industry accounting for 83.6% or 309.9 TWh, an increase of 3.2% year on year and up 9.35% month on month. </p> <p> Power consumption by tertiary industries – mainly the services sector – stood at 61.6 TWh in July, up 4.6% year on year and 12.61% higher than a month earlier. </p> <p> Over January-July this year, China consumed a total 3,137.4 TWh of electricity, up 4.9% from the same period last year, the NEA said. </p> <p> Power consumption by the residential segment stood at 396.8 TWh in the first seven months, up 5.7% from the previous year. </p> <p> Under the non-residential segment, the primary industries used 55.7 TWh of electricity, down 2.1% year on year; the second industries used 2,309.4 TWh of power, up 4.7% on year, with the industrial sector at 2,269 TWh, up 4.6%; while the tertiary industries consumed 375.4 TWh, up 6.5%. </p> <p> Meanwhile, the average utilization of power generating units across the country fell 3.95% year on year to 2,482 hours in the first seven months of the year. </p> <p> Specifically, hydropower plants and thermal power plants logged average utilization of 1,853 and 2,790 hours, respectively, falling 1.54% and 1.93% from a year ago. </p> <p> China added 42.65 GW of power generating capacity from January to July, including 14.53 GW of new hydropower capacity and 18.75 GW of new thermal power capacity, up 14.68% and 7.08% year on year, respectively. </p> <p align="center"> <img alt="" src="/upfiles/news/image/20140816/20140816155023_1374.jpg" /> </p> <p> &nbsp; </p>