China Advances Coordinated Development of Computing Power and Electricity to Consolidate National Digital Infrastructure Base

According to China Energy News, computing power stands as a vital indicator of overall national strength and a core production factor driving economic and social progress in the digital era. The construction of the national integrated computing power network is being pushed forward at full pace to match computing supply with demand, boost resource utilisation efficiency and cut computing costs, forming the solid foundation for digital infrastructure nationwide.

Reliable power supply serves as an indispensable pillar for rolling out the national computing power network. Figures released by the National Energy Administration show that annual newly added electricity consumption driven by computing facilities will exceed 100 billion kilowatt-hours throughout the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Total power usage for computing operations is projected to hit 800 billion kilowatt-hours by 2030, lifting its share in the country’s total electricity consumption from the current 1.6 per cent to roughly 6 per cent. Computing capacity expansion will become a major engine lifting future national electricity demand.

With the launch and operation of ultra-large intelligent computing clusters, power expenditure accounts for a growing proportion of the total operating costs of computing facilities, reaching 70 to 80 per cent in some individual projects. Securing safe, cost-effective and low-carbon power supply for computing sites has become an essential task for building the national integrated computing power network and advancing the Digital China initiative.

The 2026 Government Work Report lays out plans to launch new infrastructure projects covering ultra-large intelligent computing clusters and coordinated computing-power-electricity development. The Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan further clarifies arrangements to coordinate the layout of renewable power generation and computing facilities. Coordination between computing power and electricity makes full use of China’s abundant renewable energy reserves and complete power grid infrastructure to satisfy the rising electricity needs of computing hubs and deliver high-quality growth for the computing sector.

Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China has carried out pilot schemes for integrated computing and power development in national computing hubs including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Yangtze River Delta, alongside clean energy-rich regions such as Qinghai and Xinjiang, yielding tangible practical outcomes. Large-scale computing facilities have been closely aligned with local renewable energy development schemes. New models including integrated source-grid-load-storage systems, direct green power access and smart microgrids have been widely deployed, lifting energy efficiency and low-carbon performance of computing infrastructure and accumulating replicable experience for nationwide roll-out of coordinated computing-power arrangements.

The integration of computing and electricity covers artificial intelligence, information and communication technology, energy and power sectors, forming a comprehensive systematic project emerging alongside rapid digital economic expansion. Challenges remain in spatial planning, resource matching and secure operational management. Three major approaches centred on aligned planning, joint operation and market-based trading will be adopted to deepen two-way integration and mutual empowerment between computing and power sectors, enabling power infrastructure to support computing expansion and computing resources to upgrade power system operations in return.

Tighter alignment will be achieved in spatial planning for computing and power facilities. Dynamic assessment of growth trends in computing capacity and associated electricity consumption will ensure seamless alignment between national power and renewable energy development blueprints and computing layout plans formulated for the 15th Five-Year Plan cycle. Following the principle of moderately advanced construction, supporting power sources and power transmission and transformation facilities will be deployed in advance for large and ultra-large data centres. Coordinated planning for computing hubs and renewable energy industries will move ahead in parallel. In western regions, data centre clusters will be arranged alongside large-scale wind and photovoltaic bases in desert, gobi and barren land zones, while eastern areas will integrate computing facilities with coastal nuclear power and offshore wind farms to strengthen spatial synergy between computing deployment and green power supplies.

Pilot trials for joint dispatch of computing loads and power systems will be rolled out. Continuous monitoring and analysis will track power load characteristics across different types of data centres, with research conducted into how sharp load fluctuations at computing hubs affect grid security and transient stability. Feasibility studies will examine non-real-time shifting of computing tasks across time and regions to unlock flexible adjustment potential of data centre electricity loads. Data centre air conditioning systems will be encouraged to participate in demand response programmes during peak summer power consumption spells, and optimised scheduling schemes for backup power supplies at computing sites will be explored. Distributed energy resources will be deployed more efficiently through peak shifting and valley filling to stabilise power supply and realise bidirectional interaction between computing operations and power grids.

Market mechanisms for green power procurement by data centres will be upgraded and refined. Green certificate and green electricity trading frameworks will be improved to help computing operators raise the share of renewable power consumed via market transactions. Updated supportive policies will be introduced for green power delivery to computing infrastructure. Data centres with strong green power demand, access to local abundant renewable energy and flexible regulation capacity will be supported to adopt integrated source-grid-load-storage set-ups, direct green power access and smart microgrid solutions. New trading mechanisms for power generated from large wind and photovoltaic bases will be trialled, alongside point-to-point green power transaction pilots linking major renewable energy bases and large computing clusters to diversify low-carbon power supply channels for data centres. Computing pricing mechanisms will be adjusted to transmit price signals including green attributes and time-of-use electricity tariffs to downstream computing users, guiding further coordinated growth of computing and power sectors through mature market arrangements.