Friday July 3, 04:45 AM
UPDATE 1-China power output up 3.6 pct, 1st rise in months
BEIJING, July 3 (Reuters) - China's power output in June increased 3.6 percent from a year earlier, state media reported on Friday, the first increase in a non-holiday month since October as hotter weather and reviving economy drove up demand.
Last month's electricity production was at 309.328 billion kilowatt hours (kWh), in which 241.576 billion kWh were generated by thermal power plants, 62.563 billion kWh by hydropower stations and 5.189 billion kWh by nuclear facilities, all up over 3 percent from their year-earlier levels, the official Xinhua news agency said.
But output in the first half of this year still declined 2.02 percent from a year earlier, according to the China Securities Journal, which cited data from the State Grid Corp of China, China's main grid operator.
The declines in China's power generation have been narrowing in the past several months after near double-digit falls late last year, as consumption gradually picked up, thanks to Beijing's economic stimulus policies.
However, the significance of the first monthly output increase was tempered by the fact that hotter-than-usual weather hit some part of China in late June, leading to a surge in production late last month.
Power generation in the first 10 days of June fell 1.7 percent from a year earlier, rose 3.8 percent in the second 10 days and gained 7 percent in the final 10 days, the newspaper said.
The National Development and Reform Commission said last week that power output nationwide in June was expected to rise 2.37 percent from a year earlier.
(Reporting by Jim Bai and Tom Miles; Editing by Ken Wills)
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