Power consumption in Pingtan county over the past year reached a record high of 516 million kilowatt hours, a year on year increase of 15.6 percent, and marking the first time that Pingtan reached the threshold of 500 million KWh in a single year, the local power supply company said on Jan 12.

The increment came from nearly all sectors. Non-industrial and general industrial sectors combined for a 34.76 percent growth of power consumption. The commercial sector use climbed 19.85 percent to 97.9 million KWh, with 6,464 newcomers. Non-residential electricity consumption rose by 24.77 percent, largely due to the installment of street lamps in the urban area.

But the residential sector remained the number 1 source of Pingtan's power consumption, with 262 million KWh, accounting for 50.82 percent of the total volume.

Pingtan has been investing heavily in power grid construction amid the increase in power use in recent years. From 2009 to 2013, the island county spent a total of 1.19 billion yuan ($197 million), including 730 million last year, on power grid projects.

In 2013 alone, three transformer substations – the 220-KV Zhuyu substation, 110-KV Guanshuxia substation and 110-KV Jinjing substation – started operation, with the aim of meeting the local requirements.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Niva Whyman