China’s Coal and Gas Power Plummets as Covid Zero Hammers Demand
16 May 2022
China’s electricity
output plummeted last month as virus restrictions in Shanghai
and other parts of the country pummeled economic activity from factory floors
to steel mills and shopping malls.
Electricity generation fell in April from the
prior month to 608.6 billion kilowatt-hours, a decline of 4.3% on the same
period last year. Thermal power output plunged to an even greater degree, down
12% for the biggest drop since 2008, as the share of renewables increased at
the expense of coal and gas and China installed more solar capacity than
expected in the first quarter.