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AI is reshaping US-China tech race – can electricity tilt the balance?
Already home to world’s largest power system, Beijing moves to lock in advantage through record investment
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China’s state-owned power grid giant has pledged to increase fixed-asset investment by 40 per cent over the next five years, at a time when some analysts view electricity capacity as a strategic asset in the US-China rivalry amid soaring demand from artificial intelligence (AI) and other power-hungry industries.
The State Grid Corporation of China expects the investment amount to reach 4 trillion yuan (US$574 billion) through 2030, a company record, as it accelerates efforts to build a “new-type power system” – a more efficient and flexible grid designed to integrate renewables.
The expansion could raise electricity’s share of end-use energy consumption to 35 per cent, with about 200 gigawatts of wind and solar capacity added annually, the company announced on Thursday.
The massive investment comes as the world grapples with the enormous energy appetite of AI. The International Energy Agency estimated that from 2024 to 2030, China’s data centres would consume 170 per cent more electricity while the consumption in the US would increase 130 per cent, with both accounting for nearly 80 per cent of global growth.
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