Workers connect a distributed photovoltaic power generation project to the grid in Zhejiang province. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

East China's Zhejiang province consumed 72.17 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity over the first two months of this year, up 43.74 percent year-on-year, according to the latest data from State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co.

The province's growth in power consumption was the highest among all Chinese provincial-level regions, reflecting the province's thriving economy.

Between January and February, power consumption in the province's primary, secondary, and tertiary industries were 240 million, 46.949 billion, and 12.33 billion kilowatt-hours, up 2.15 percent, 74.05 percent, and 13.06 percent, respectively, from the previous year.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic in January 2020, the province's monthly electricity consumption plummeted 20.23 percent year-on-year at the time, while the figure in February 2020 saw an even larger year-on-year decrease of 22.36 percent.

After work and production began resuming in China, the province's growth rate in electricity consumption turned positive in May 2020 and has remained so ever since.

Zhejiang's recent surge in power consumption is also attributable to its transition to "carbon neutrality" by replacing the consumption of fossil fuels with electricity. Over the first two months of this year, State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co, the province's major provider of electricity, completed a total of 7,442 supersedence programs of this kind, which led to an additional 1.82 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity consumption.