On January 15th, Shandong Heavy Industry Group held its 2026 annual work conference in Weifang, officially announcing the group's seventh business unit - electric power and energy, and fully entering the global data center power generation equipment, solid oxide fuel cell and other businesses. This means that the electric power and energy business has been elevated to the strategic height of Shandong Heavy Industry Group, aiming to cultivate new strategic growth poles.

From the perspective of subsidiaries under Shandong Heavy Industry Group, the layout of power energy business is mainly focused on Weichai Power. With the technical accumulation and market accumulation in data center power generation equipment, solid oxide fuel cells and other businesses, Weichai Power has successfully built a multi-dimensional new pattern of power energy and is ushering in a critical opportunity period of business explosion with the help of the industry.

At present, the rapid development of the artificial intelligence industry has spurred explosive growth in AI data centers, and their energy demand has also exponentially increased, becoming a true "electric tiger". The IEA predicts that global data center electricity consumption will increase to approximately 945 TWh by 2030, more than doubling from 2024. In the context of limited power grid capacity, traditional power supply solutions are unable to meet the high-density and high stability electricity demand of AI computing power. This supply-demand gap creates a broad market space for power solution providers with efficient and reliable characteristics, and Weichai Power precisely meets this market demand.

In the field of data center power generation, natural gas power generation is currently a hot solution for the main power supply. Weichai Power is a leading domestic natural gas engine company, and its gas power products deeply integrate cutting-edge global technologies, building a complete product matrix covering multiple scenarios such as commercial vehicles and power generation equipment. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), as a new type of power generation technology, have become the forefront direction of energy supply in data centers due to their outstanding characteristics of ultra-high energy efficiency. Weichai Power Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, with their core advantages of high energy conversion efficiency, rapid deployment capability, and low-carbon environmental protection, have become an ideal choice to match the electrical characteristics of data centers, and commercial demand is expected to accelerate. Founder Securities stated that SOFC remains one of the most efficient power generation solutions and is expected to remain a scarce resource for filling the power gap in the next 1-3 years.

As one of the earliest companies in China to layout SOFC system integration, Weichai Power has made early technological layouts for SOFC products. The highest power generation efficiency of the new generation products exceeds 65%, gradually forming differentiated competitive capabilities. In November 2025, Weichai Power signed a manufacturing license agreement with Xilithi to establish battery and stack production lines for the fixed power generation market. It is reported that relying on the high-quality customer resources and product performance advantages accumulated from traditional business, Weichai Power has reached intention cooperation with multiple leading enterprises and is currently accelerating the increase of SOFC production capacity to fully meet market demand.

The field of backup power in data centers is also showing strong demand, and diesel generators, as the most mainstream backup power configuration in data centers, have strict requirements for performance levels. In recent years, due to the limited production capacity and tight order scheduling of international leaders, domestic brands have accelerated the promotion of domestic substitution in high demand fields such as data centers. Weichai Power, with its profound technical accumulation and product advantages in the high-end power field, as well as a stable delivery rhythm, has completed product delivery acceptance in multiple data center projects in domestic and foreign regions, and its market recognition continues to increase both domestically and internationally. In 2025, Weichai Power Data Center's backup power supply will achieve a key breakthrough in the global high-end market, launching the world's first 5-megawatt high-speed diesel generator set 20M61, with the highest power output in the world. At present, facing strong market demand, Weichai Power Data Center's power generation products are maintaining a good trend of strong production and sales, injecting strong momentum into the strategic landing of Shandong Heavy Industry Group's power and energy sector.Editor/Yang Meiling