In November, China's fossil fuelled power generation fell 4.2% on an annual basis.

Statistics Bureau data released on Monday showed that China's fossil fuelled power generation dropped 4.2% in November compared to last year. This reversed a 7.3% increase in October, when the power?generation reached its highest level in decades.

This means that China's fossil fuelled power generation could be pushed lower until December when there is an increase in demand. It would be the first annual decline of this kind in a decade.

In the first 11 month, China's thermal power generation, which is fueled by fossil fuels, was down 0.7%. Thermal power is mainly generated by coal, with a small amount of natural gas.

This month-over-month change also shows how China's energy generation is more and more?affected? by weather fluctuations as?air conditioning?and heating?use increases. The October increase in power generation was due to atypical weather conditions, as well as increased demand from energy-intensive sectors and high-tech manufacturing.

China's state planner warned in November that the country is bracing itself for a record-high peak in electricity and gas consumption this winter.

Hydropower volume increased 17.1% in November, and 2.7% over the past 11 months. This helped to reduce the demand for thermal generation.

The data shows that China's total power generation for November was 779.2 billion Kilowatt Hours, an increase of 2.7% over the same period last year.

Data is derived from industrial enterprises that have a revenue of more than 20 million yuan ($2.84 millions). The revenue requirement tends to make them understate the generation, especially from solar operations.

According to data from the Statistics Bureau, the total power generated in the first 11 months was 8.86 trillion kWh. This is a 2.4% increase compared to the same period last year.

(source: Reuters)