The actual estimated volume of electricity consumed in July 2010 increased by 0.8 percent compared with July 2009, Statistics SA (StatsSA) says.

Electricity consumption for the first seven months of 2010 increased by 5.7 percent compared with the first seven months of 2009.

However, electricity consumption, after seasonal adjustment, for the three months ended July 2010 decreased by 1.3 percent compared with the three months ended April 2010.

StatsSA said the actual estimated production of electricity in July 2010 increased by 0.2 percent compared with July 2009.

The estimated production of electricity for the first seven months of 2010 increased by 5.7 percent compared with the first seven months of 2009.

However, electricity production, after seasonal adjustment, for the three months ended July 2010 decreased by 1.7 percent compared with the three months ended April 2010.

StatsSA said electricity delivered to the provinces for the first seven months of 2010 increased by 6.7 percent or 8212 Gigawatt-hours compared with the first seven months of 2009.

Increases were reported for all the nine provinces ranging from 1.3 percent for KwaZulu-Natal to 15.1 percent for Mpumalanga.

The volume of electricity purchased from outside South African borders rose from 7136 Gigawatt-hours in the first seven months of 2009 to 7298 Gigawatt-hours in the first seven months of 2010, representing an increase of 2.3 percent, StatsSA said.

The volume of electricity sold to neighbouring countries in the first seven months of 2010 increased by 6.9 percent compared with the first seven months of 2009.