China faces tight power supply in 2012

China will continue to face a tight power supply this year due to increasing demand and stagnant growth in new power plants, according to an electrical power industry association.

The nation will face a possible shortfall of 30-40 million kilowatts this year, reflected in regional, temporal and seasonal shortages, said the China Electricity Council (CEC) on its website.

Growth in electricity consumption is expected to be 9.5 percent in 2012, down 2 percentage points from the previous year. Power project investment will be about 739.3 billion yuan (117.35 billion U.S. dollars) in 2012, almost unchanged from one year earlier, according to CEC.

During the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015)， CEC projects power consumption to grow at 8.8 percent annually, reaching 6.02-6.61 trillion kilowatt hours in 2015.

Meanwhile, the association predicts a sharp fall in thermal power investment, mainly due to the low profitability of thermal power projects and China's efforts to curb carbon emissions.

Investment in clean energy including wind power and hydropower will jump over the next few years, however, according to the group.

China's installed power capacity will increase by 26 million kilowatts by 2015, with hydropower and solar power contributing 17 million kilowatts and 3 million kilowatts, respectively, the CEC said.