People's Daily | "Withstood the Peak, Secured the Bottom Line"—Why Isn’t There a Power Shortage This Summer?

Why isn't there a power shortage this summer?

1.02 trillion kilowatt-hours! In July, driven by multiple factors such as high temperatures and economic growth, China’s monthly electricity consumption surpassed 1 trillion kilowatt-hours for the first time, increasing 8.6% year-on-year—a milestone that marks a global first.

"What does '1 trillion kilowatt-hours' mean? On a horizontal comparison, it’s equivalent to Japan’s total annual electricity consumption; on a vertical comparison, it’s roughly twice China’s electricity usage in July 2015."

Why isn’t there a power shortage this summer, despite record-high and massive load demands? Where does the confidence to ensure supply come from?

Power supplies are being put into orderly production, ensuring a reliable "supply capacity."

During this year's peak-demand summer period, the national electricity load exceeded historical highs four times. In the State Grid’s operating areas, six regional power grids simultaneously hit new record highs—marking the first time this has occurred in nearly eight years. Commenting on the recent performance in ensuring stable power supply, Wang Hongzhi, Director of the National Energy Administration, summarized it succinctly: "Energy security not only 'withstood the peak' but also 'safeguarded the bottom line'."

Over the past few years, several countries in Europe, the Americas, and other regions have experienced widespread power outages, with some nations implementing scheduled blackouts due to soaring temperatures. A few years ago, factors such as rising international energy prices and tight domestic electricity supply-demand balances also led to power restrictions in certain areas of China.

One of the reasons behind this year's stable power supply is the accelerated planning and construction of various types of power sources, which collectively strengthen the foundation for ensuring a reliable electricity supply.

On the eastern coast, China's largest under-construction coal-fired power plant has begun operations with its newest unit, generating 6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually while significantly reducing coal consumption per unit. Meanwhile, on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China's highest-altitude wind power project—featuring the region's largest single-unit capacity—has been connected to the grid, with annual power output expected to reach nearly 1.4 billion kilowatt-hours. And in the upper reaches of the Jinsha River, Huadian Jinshang Batang Hydropower Station has fully entered operation, delivering an average annual generation capacity sufficient to power 1.75 million households for an entire year...

As of the end of July, the nation's cumulative installed power generation capacity reached 3.67 billion kilowatts, representing an year-on-year increase of 18.2%—equivalent to the combined capacity of more than 160 Three Gorges hydropower stations. All types of flexible and adjustable power sources have been fully operational, while supplies of primary fuels such as coal and natural gas remain ample, ensuring robust support to meet the growing demand and testing the system's resilience.

It's worth noting that the "green content" of electricity supply continues to rise steadily. China has built the world's largest and fastest-growing renewable energy system, with new wind and solar capacity additions accounting for more than 60% of the global total in 2024.

In the first half of this year, renewable energy generation increased by 15.6% year-on-year, surpassing the combined electricity consumption of the tertiary industry and residential use in urban and rural areas during the same period. Today, "for every three units of electricity consumed across society, one is green power."

Optimizing grid configuration to ensure stable power transmission

“Three or four years ago, the electricity supply was still quite tight—some shopping malls even turned off escalators and unnecessary lighting. Back then, we responded to the call for energy conservation by running our air conditioners less frequently,” said Zeng Hong, a Chongqing resident. “But this year, with Chongqing’s highest temperatures soaring above 40°C, even with air conditioners and fans running at full blast, we’re managing just fine. In fact, in July, our household electricity consumption increased by 25% compared to the same period last year.”

At Chongqing Sanyou Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd., components for intelligent connected vehicles are being systematically processed and inspected according to schedule. "A few years ago, we occasionally had to stagger our electricity usage, moving some of our production tasks originally planned for July and August forward to May and June," said Zhu Chaoguang, head of the company's Environmental and Safety Department. "But this year, with a stable power supply and orderly production activities, our output of automotive parts has already grown by 10% year-on-year through the first seven months."

The reason behind the changes in electricity consumption is closely tied to the powerful "external support" provided by Xinjiang, thousands of miles away. In June, the Hami-Chongqing ultra-high-voltage transmission project began delivering power. At the same time, two 1-million-kilowatt coal-fired generating units—jointly built by China Huadian and China Resources Group—were put into operation. The electricity generated from these plants, along with wind and photovoltaic power, was sent directly to Chongqing, with the maximum transmission capacity exceeding 10% of the city's peak grid demand.

At one end sits an immense power supply, while at the other are countless households—ensuring a stable electricity supply relies crucially on fully leveraging the grid’s role in resource allocation and load balancing. Particularly in China, where energy resources and electricity demand are unevenly distributed across regions, combined with complementary factors such as time zone differences and varying climates among local areas, the grid has vast potential for coordinating peak-shaving support across different regions.

This year, more than 160 key grid projects aimed at meeting peak summer demand were completed on schedule. As of June, China has put into operation over 40 ultra-high-voltage AC and DC transmission projects, with inter-provincial and inter-regional power transmission capacity exceeding 400 million kilowatts—providing a robust infrastructure "hard guarantee" for ensuring electricity supply.

Not only that, but a new "soft mechanism" has also been introduced. In July, the regularized electricity trading mechanism across grid operation areas was launched, breaking down the barriers between the State Grid and China Southern Power Grid's power markets. Over 2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity—enough to meet the annual consumption needs of more than 800,000 households—was seamlessly delivered around the clock from Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan provinces to Shanghai, Zhejiang, Anhui, and Fujian via the Fujian-Guangdong Interconnection Project and related transmission channels, enabling the power systems to support and safeguard each other nationwide.

In the afternoon, photovoltaic power generation in Xinjiang "lit up" Beijing's nighttime skies, while hydropower from the southwestern region "brought light" to eastern China's urban areas. In the first seven months of this year, nationwide electricity transactions across provinces and regions reached 855.8 billion kilowatt-hours, a 9% increase year-on-year.

Energy storage enables flexible adjustments, ensuring it's "used effectively."

New energy sources provide substantial green electricity support, but they also have limitations—they generate power unevenly, such as during "extreme heat with no wind" or "peak evening demand without sunlight." That’s precisely when energy storage—a "super-sized power bank"—becomes essential: storing electricity during periods of low demand and releasing it during peak times.

During this year's peak-demand summer period in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the number of full-load operations for 31 pumped-storage hydro units significantly increased year-on-year, with the largest single-day regulation capacity exceeding 100 million kilowatt-hours. Meanwhile, in Jiangsu, 93 new-type energy storage stations concentrated on discharging electricity back into the grid during evening peak hours—delivering a maximum real-time output equivalent to illuminating more than 70 million 100-watt light bulbs simultaneously. Data shows that China's installed capacity of new energy storage systems has grown nearly 30-fold over the past five years.

On one hand, power sources, grids, energy storage, and other supply-side resources are working in synergy; on the other hand, previously "dormant" demand-side assets—such as air conditioners and electric vehicle charging stations—are now being activated.

Looking at years of electricity operation data, the peak load periods—when national electricity demand exceeds 95% of capacity—occur for only a few dozen hours each year. Relying solely on supply-side infrastructure development would lead to high investment costs and low resource utilization. However, by leveraging flexible measures such as time-of-use pricing and targeted energy-saving initiatives to unlock demand-side potential, we could effectively shift or stagger electricity consumption during those critical peak hours, thereby conserving significant resources.

Since July, the electricity load in Hefei, Anhui, has exceeded last year’s peak levels more than 20 times. To ease the pressure on power consumption, the local authorities have launched a residential energy-saving response campaign, encouraging rational electricity use through modest incentives. Ms. Li signed up for the initiative: "After dinner, I turn off all the appliances at home and head out with my family for some shopping. Plus, I even avoid charging my electric vehicle during peak hours. It’s not inconvenient at all—and I even get rewarded for it!"

Zheng Kangzhen, Deputy Director of the Marketing Department at State Grid Anhui Electric Power, introduced that since the launch of the energy-saving response campaign, the province has attracted more than 5.43 million household registrations. On the day with the highest load reduction, the peak demand was lowered by 990,000 kilowatts—equivalent to cutting nearly 1.5% of the system's peak load.

This year in Sichuan, the region's first virtual power plant—featuring an "orderly charge-discharge" residential community—has been put into operation. Under the agreed-upon arrangement, residents can charge their vehicles during off-peak hours and discharge electricity back into the community's commercial transformers during peak demand periods, earning them the benefit of free charging.

"According to calculations, if 30 vehicles simultaneously discharge their energy, it could nearly meet the load of the community's commercial transformer, helping ease pressure on the power grid during peak electricity demand," said Wu Wenjun, a staff member from the Marketing Department of State Grid Sichuan Electric Power Tianfu New Area Supply Company.

“Energy security and supply are vital to the nation’s economy and people’s livelihood—they are ‘matters of paramount national importance’ that must never be overlooked. Looking back over time, in 1949, China’s total electricity generation stood at just 4.3 billion kilowatt-hours. By 2024, however, this figure had surged dramatically to over 10 trillion kilowatt-hours—accounting for roughly one-third of global output—and we’ve now built the world’s largest-scale power supply system.”

In the future, a new type of power system—clean, low-carbon, safe, abundant, economically efficient, with coordinated supply and demand, and equipped with flexible, intelligent features—will better illuminate our vibrant daily lives and inject greater dynamism into China’s economic growth. (Ding Yiting, Chang Biluo)

(Reposted from the People's Daily)