China set a new high for electricity consumption, using 6.562 billion kwh on Thursday, 156 million kwh more than the previous record high set on Wednesday, the State Grid Corporation of China (SG) announced Friday.

It was the third time this year the country set a record in power consumption. On Wednesday afternoon, Beijing imposed its first brownout of the year, lasting 47 minutes, the Beijing Municipal Power Supply Bureau said.

"China will still see new record highs of power consumption in the days to come due to lingering high temperatures," the SG said.

In 2003, China's electricity consumption surged 15.4 percent over the previous year to 1.89 trillion kwh, setting a record high for the past 25 years.

China predicts a total gap of about 30 million kw between electricity demand and supply this summer. This is the most severe power shortage since the 1980s, the SG has announced.