Jun. 14, 2012 (China Knowledge) – China's electricity consumption reached 406.1 terawatt hours (TWh) in May this year, up 5.2% compared with the same period of last year, according to statistics released by the National Energy Administration.

In the first five month of this year, the country consumed 1,961.8 TWhs of electricity, 5.8% more than that in the corresponding period of last year.

During the period from January to May, primary industry consumed 35.9 TWhs, 3.5% lower than in the same period of 2011. The power consumption of secondary industry was 1,442.6 TWhs, reflecting a Y-o-Y increase of 3.8%.

The power consumption of tertiary industry grew 12.4% YoY to 222.3 TWhs.

Electricity consumed by residents in urban and rural area increased 14.2% than a year earlier to 261 TWhs during the five month period.

In the first five month, the country added 18.53 gigawatt of power capacity, including 2.94 GW of hydropower and 12.28 GW of thermal power.