China will face a power shortage of about 35 million kilowatts this summer due the slowing growth of coal-fired electricity generation capacity and thermal coal supply shortages, said a senior official of the China Electricity Council.

Sun Yucai, deputy chairman of the CEC, said that it will be a very tough task to ensure the electricity supply this summer.

China Southern Power Grid, the second largest national grid in the country, will face even more serious power supply challenges this summer, said a report from the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.

According to forecasts, the biggest power shortage during peak hours in the regions covered by China Southern Power Grid will be 8 million to 14 million kW this summer.

Limits on electricity usage happened in a wide range of areas in China last summer, especially in the southern area with 52.2 minutes of electricity shortage per family, statistics from the CEC showed.

The CEC also estimated that by the end of the 12th Five-Year-Plan period (2011-15), the national generation capacity will reach 1.46 billion kW and the country's overall power consumption will be 6,310 billion kilowatt hours.

The country will focus on increasing the generation capacity of new energy plants and nuclear plants.