International: China is stepping up investment and coordination across its power grid infrastructure to ease the growing pressure on electricity supplies from the country’s rapidly expanding technology and artificial intelligence sectors.

In the Shaoguan cluster in Guangdong Province, one of China’s 10 major national computing power hubs, intelligent computing cabinets serve as the primary hardware for running large artificial intelligence models. A single cabinet operating at full capacity can consume up to 240 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day, roughly equivalent to the monthly electricity consumption of an average household. In addition to computing equipment, cooling and humidity-control systems also consume significant amounts of electricity.

According to data, computing centers across China consumed 18.1 percent more electricity in 2025 than in 2024. This growth was significantly higher than the 5.2 percent increase in electricity consumption recorded by households and businesses nationwide.

On July 31, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced that China will invest 4 trillion yuan, or approximately $593 billion, during the 15th Five-Year Plan period from 2026 to 2030 to encourage the development of a national integrated computing power network.

The integrated computing power network will coordinate computing resources distributed across different regions with regional resource allocation and scheduling. This will enable technological advantages in individual regions to be integrated and transformed into the broader capabilities of national industrial clusters, providing stronger infrastructure for the development of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

Source: Jennifer and Sakib, China Media Group.