Abstract: With the rapid economic development of the Yangtze River Basin, the quantity of industrial water consumption showed a increasing growth trend. Thermal power industry is one of the national economy’s major water consumers, and the water consumption growth rate is higher than the average level of all industries. In this paper the current situation and features of water consumption of thermal power industry in Yangtze River water basin are analyzed. Also the adaptability of water quota released by the local government is researched by using statistical analogy based on the analysis results of water quota of new thermal power projects in recent 5 years in the research basin. With reference to the advanced water use index abroad, the advancement of water quota in thermal power industry in Yangtze River basin is analyzed. Results suggest that the water consumption of new large thermal power projects in the Yangtze River Basin has reached the advanced level in foreign countries. But the gap between power plants is still large, and there’s still a large space for water saving in the entire power industry.

Key words: thermal power, water intake quantity, quota analysis, Yangtze River Basin