China Oct Electricity Output 312.1 Bln KWh; Nov Likely Steady

BEIJING -- China produced 312.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in October, up 17.1% from a year earlier, for the highest growth rate so far this year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Wednesday.

November may bring even higher growth, due to a low base of comparison in the same month last year, but electricity output is likely to be around the same as in October, UOB Kay Hian analyst Yan Shi said.

The increase of 17.1% in October was also due more to the base effect than to economic recovery, she said.

October power output was down 2.6% from September due to cooler temperatures, while the economy was stable, Yan said.

Electricity produced by coal-fired power plants in October rose 20.8% from a year earlier to 256.1 billion kWh. Hydroelectricity generation fell 4.0% to 43.6 billion kWh, and nuclear power generation rose 4.3% at 6.65 billion kWh.

Power output in the first 10 months of the year rose 3.2% from January-October of last year to 2.963 trillion kWh.