China's National Energy Administration said Friday that the nation's power consumption will likely rise 10%-12% this year to 4.61 trillion-4.69 trillion kilowatt hours, with supply tightness likely in the summer.

Power consumption will increase 11% from a year earlier to 2.2 trillion kilowatt hours in the first half of the year, the agency said in a news conference.

Electricity use in January and March has already neared levels seen during last year's peak hours in summer, largely due to robust industrial consumption, the NEA said.

Apparent oil product consumption in the first six months of the year will increase 9% from a year earlier to 130 million metric tons as an expanding car fleet boosts gasoline use, while full-year consumption will rise 8% to 265 million tons, it said.

Natural gas production in the full year of 2011 will likely reach 104 billion cubic meters, up 7.5%, it said.

The nation's coal imports will continue to be curbed by high international coal prices, the NEA said.

Following the lead of the provinces of Shanxi and Henan , other coal-producing regions have also started to consolidate their coal sectors, it said. Shaanxi province will slash the number of its coal companies to less than 120 by the end of June from 522, and Inner Mongolia will raise the minimum production capacity of its coal firms to 1.2 million tons a year by 2013.

The NEA also confirmed that a national emergency coal reserve plan has been approved by the cabinet, with an initial reserve capacity of 5 million tons.

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