NBS: China's Sept power output dips 1.2% as hydro slumps

China's total power generation in September slipped 1.2% from a year earlier to 829.4 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), mainly driven by the 18.1% plunge in hydropower on thin autumn inflows at dams and the start of winter reservoir storage, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed on September 19. Contributing too was the 1.4% dip in thermal power output.

The overall reading came in below the August figure of 943.8 billion kWh, with the drop being the usual seasonal pullback after the summer peak rather than a demand collapse, Mysteel Global notes. Hydropower generation hit 130.5 billion kWh in September, as against 152.2 billion kWh in August and swinging