China's power demand in the first seven months rose 15.68 percent from a year ago to 1.82 trillion kilowatt-hours, while its major power plants generated 1.78 trillion kwh of electricity, up 16.5 percent.

Power consumption reached the peak in July when the monthly demand surged 10 percent from the previous month, the China Electricity Council said in a report posted on its website.

With coal feeding most of China's energy needs, thermal power stations contributed 85.3 percent, or 1.52 trillion kwh, to the total supply in the first seven months, up 18.6 percent from the same period of last year.

Hydropower stations generated 224 billion kwh, up 3.9 percent year on year, while nuclear power stations produced 32.6 billion kwh, up 6.7 percent.

Industry, especially heavy industrial enterprises, served as the biggest electricity user in the first seven months, consuming 1.4 trillion kwh, up 17.1 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2007)