The total installed power generation capacity of China is expected to exceed 500 million kw this year as new units with a combined capacity of more than 65 million kw will be put into operation, a government official said Tuesday.

By the end of last year, China's installed power generation capacity totaled 440 million kw, ranking the second in the world, said Zhang Guobao, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

In the same year, China put into operation generating units with a capacity of 50.5 million kw and produced 2.19 trillion kwh of electricity, he told a press conference hosted by the Information Office of the State Council, the country's cabinet.

Between 2000 and 2004, China's total power generation grew by 12.4 percent on a yearly basis, he added.

Since the second half of 2002, China has overcome the compact of the Asian financial crisis, and the economy has maintained sustained and rapid growth.

In the meantime, Zhang said, energy supply began to strain after temporary oversupply, with some provinces experiencing tight power supply though monthly power supply has been growing at a two-digit rate for nearly 40 months in a row power.

China's gross domestic product grew by 9.5 percent while power supply increased by the 15.3 percent last year. In the first half of this year, power supply increased by 13.2 percent year-on-year.

The rapid growth of power demand has also stimulated the demand for coal. With prices rising, the coal industry has emerged out of the stagnant situation ever since 1997, he said.

Last year, the output of coal reached 1.96 billion tons, 17.3 percent more than the previous year. Of the total, 980 million tons of coal were used to generate power, which in turn caused strains in railway transportation. Some 100,000 train wagons were dispatched every day, and half of them were used to transport coal.

(Xinhua News Agency September 13, 2005)