China's total electricity consumption grew 5.3% year-on-year to 5,099.9 TWh in January–June, according to the National Energy Administration. In June alone, consumption was 898.1 TWh, up 3.7% from a year earlier.
Du Zhongming, director of the administration's electricity department, said the nationwide power supply-demand picture is generally balanced. Some provinces in eastern, central (including southwestern) and southern China are experiencing tightness, but cross-provincial transfers can ensure supply.
Key transmission links are playing a vital role. The Shaanxi–Anhui ±800 kV UHV DC project, running from Baota Mountain in Yan'an to Hezhou in Hefei, has officially entered operation. The line can deliver 36 TWh of electricity to Anhui each year. In the northwest, multiple Xinjiang outbound channels are supporting national supply, with the Hami–Zhengzhou DC line averaging 123 GWh per day and a single-day peak exceeding 146 GWh, securing Henan's peak summer demand.
Progress has also been made in cross-regional clean energy integration. Using the Northwest–North China and Northeast–North China UHV channels, solar power from Qinghai and wind power from Heilongjiang were transmitted to Beijing in what is described as the country's first cross-regional "solar + wind" green power relay, opening a path for coordinated inter-provincial clean energy consumption.
New business models and technologies are increasingly important for power security. A Shanghai power company has cultivated 71 virtual power plants and, on top of expanding adjustable resources, set up a full-process trading link for virtual plants in Yangtze River Delta inter-provincial exchanges, facilitating cross-provincial consumption of surplus new energy. A hydrogen storage station in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, recently connected its 90MW/360MWh storage unit to the grid, marking the commercial operation of a grid-side "electrochemical + hydrogen" independent storage demonstration project. Once fully operational, it is expected to consume over 500 GWh of green electricity annually and reduce carbon emissions by about 400,000 tonnes.
Artificial intelligence and digital tools are also deeply embedded in power supply operations. At a maintenance site in Beijing, AI technology enables full-process traceability and review, with digital supervision helping workers accurately identify risks. Wang Yongli, deputy director of the Energy Internet Research Center at North China Electric Power University, noted that AI is relatively mature in planning, operations & maintenance, and load management. It turns scattered data on weather, load, generation, grids, storage and users into earlier warnings, more accurate judgments and actionable supply arrangements, shifting the approach from experience-based to prediction-driven, risk-forward and collaborative optimization.