China's industrial power generation held broadly steady in July, with output edging down 0.1% year on year as thermal power swung to a decline while hydropower growth accelerated.

Industrial power generation totaled 943.9 TWh in July, with daily average output at 30.45 TWh, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on August 17. 

Thermal power output fell 3.5% year on year in July, reversing from a 0.5% increase in June. Hydropower rose 6.7%, accelerating by 1.9 percentage points (pps) from the previous month. Nuclear power grew 6.6%, slowing by 1.9 pps, while wind power rose 4.5%, compared with a 5.6% decline a month ago. Solar power generation increased 5.6%, with growth easing by 8.6 pps.

In absolute terms, thermal power generation stood at 584.1 TWh in July. Hydropower output reached 161.6 TWh, while nuclear generation totaled 45.8 TWh. Wind power generation was 82 TWh, and solar output stood at 70.3 TWh.

During January-July, industrial power generation totaled 5,698.5 TWh, up 3.0% year on year.

By source, thermal power generation reached 3,612.7 TWh in the first seven months, up 1.8% year on year. Hydropower output totaled 750.4 TWh, up 8.8%, while nuclear generation was 280.5 TWh, up 0.4%. Wind power generation fell 0.8% year on year to 643.3 TWh, while solar output rose 11.4% to 411.7 TWh.