BEIJING-- China, the world's second largest economy, is expected to face a power shortage up to 70 million kilowatts in 2013, worsening from 50 million kilowatts (kW) in 2012, an official with the China Electricity Council said Friday.

Wei Shaofeng, deputy director of the council, said China's power crunch in the next few years will be worse than the situation in the five years to 2010, with lack of electricity hitting a wider range of areas.

China's current power demand is strong, boosted by massive use of air conditioners due to hot weather, and robust industrial consumption of electricity, he said.

The country will face significant pressure of power shortage in autumn and winter this year, he added, citing structural problems such as uneven power generation and excessive reliance on coal.

Power consumption totaled more than 2.2 trillion kilowatt-hours in the first half of the year, up 12.2 percent from a year earlier.