In the scorching heat of 40 ℃ in Chongqing, the air conditioning in citizens' homes continued to operate at full capacity, and the office buildings in the city's core commercial district were brightly lit. In the summer of 2026, the electricity load reached a new high, but there was no longer a scene where companies were forced to limit electricity as before. Since the beginning of summer in 2026, the highest peak electricity consumption in China has reached 1.557 billion kilowatts, breaking historical records for four consecutive times. The new power system is using its solid supply capacity to support stable production and life under the heat wave.

Clean energy becomes the main force of new electricity generation

As of now, China's total installed power generation capacity has exceeded 4 billion kilowatts, surpassing the total installed power generation capacity of the United States, Europe, India, Japan, and Russia. The proportion of non fossil energy power generation continues to increase. More than 70% of the newly added electricity in the first half of 2026 will be provided by non fossil energy sources. The Xinjiang Electricity to Chongqing Project is equivalent to adding two million kilowatt thermal power plants to the Chongqing power grid. Combined with the peak power generation capacity of local energy storage and pumped storage, it has completely reversed the situation of power shortage in the past summer. While the power grid load in 25 provinces has broken records, the national power supply has always remained stable and orderly.

Continuous expansion and upgrading of ultra-high voltage network

The power demand of AI computing power and high-tech industry is rising rapidly. In July 2026, the power consumption of the whole society will exceed trillion kilowatt hours, and the power consumption of Internet data services will grow by 40.1% year on year. During the 15th Five Year Plan period, 15 new ultra-high voltage direct current channels will be added nationwide, and the scale of West East power transmission will exceed 420 million kilowatts. The Panxi ultra-high voltage project under construction can transmit 18.2 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually after completion. The new energy pattern of West East power transmission and complementary wind and solar power is accelerating its formation.

From residential air conditioning sockets in Chongqing to intelligent computing cluster computer rooms in Wuhu, the new power system is using greener and smarter operating methods to support the world-class challenge of large-scale new energy access, laying a solid operational foundation for the initial construction of the new power system by 2030.Editor/Cheng Liting