BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- China's power generation industry used more than 590.78 million tons of coal in the first half of this year, up nearly 18 percent year-on-year, the China Electricity Council (CEC) announced here Tuesday.

    According to CEC statistics, the nation's power plants with more than 6,000 kilowatt in capacity used 356 grams of coal per kilowatt-hour, eight grams lower from the same period last year.

    The national power supply and demand remained basically stable with most parts of the country reported less power shortages, the CEC said in a press release.

    It predicted that with an installed capacity of 90 million kilowatts in 2007, most regions will see power surplus after the summer.