Amid the global power outage wave, it's a miracle. Why has China become the so - called "Power Empire" in the eyes of foreign media?
Recently, the British Financial Times published an article stating that China has become the first "Electricity Empire" in human history.
The article points out that when summer heatwaves sweep across the globe, European and American families are anxious about soaring electricity prices, and Indian factories are paralyzed by rolling blackouts. In contrast, China has ensured the electricity demand of its 1.4 billion population with astonishing stability. This country, once regarded as the "world's factory," is now rewriting the global energy landscape in the new guise of an "Electricity Empire." From having five times the coal - fired power installed capacity of the United States to accounting for 60% of global photovoltaic power generation, from leading the world in ultra - high voltage technology to having an intelligent power grid empowered by artificial intelligence, China has not only solved its own energy security problems but is also setting new standards for global industrial civilization.
Why has China suddenly become the so - called "Electricity Empire" in the eyes of foreign media?
The Chinese Miracle Amidst the Global Power Outage Wave
During the peak electricity consumption season every summer, similar "power shortages" occur in many parts of the world. In July 2023, the temperature in New Delhi, the capital of India, soared to 45 degrees Celsius. The authorities were forced to implement mandatory power restrictions on shopping malls and office buildings, leaving millions of residents suffering in the sweltering heat. In the same month, the power grid operator in Texas, the United States, issued another electricity - saving alert, uneasily reminding people of the major power outage in 2021 that caused 246 deaths.
In Europe, German industrial giants have to pay a sky - high price of 0.4 euros (about 3 yuan) per kilowatt - hour of electricity, and France is facing a power supply shortage due to the aging of its nuclear power plants. In sharp contrast, in the context of China's peak summer electricity consumption load exceeding 1.2 billion kilowatts in 2023, there were no large - scale power cuts across the country. This stable performance has surprised and puzzled the international community.
The scale advantage of China's power system forms the first line of defense for its stability. Data shows that China's annual power generation in 2023 reached an astonishing 9.46 trillion kilowatt - hours, more than twice that of the United States and three times the total of the 27 EU countries. This huge power - generation capacity is based on a diversified and mixed power source structure: the installed capacity of coal - fired power is 1.39 billion kilowatts (including 1.16 billion kilowatts of coal - fired power), maintaining a stable base load; the installed capacity of hydropower is 420 million kilowatts (including 50.94 million kilowatts of pumped - storage power), providing flexible adjustment capabilities; the installed capacity of grid - connected wind power is 440 million kilowatts and that of solar power is 610 million kilowatts, totaling 1.05 billion kilowatts, contributing rapidly growing renewable energy power. Notably, China's installed capacity of non - fossil energy power generation historically exceeded 50% of the total installed capacity in 2023, reaching 1.57 billion kilowatts, a year - on - year increase of 24.1%. This milestone of "half of the total" marks substantial progress in the transformation of China's power structure.
Different from most countries, China's power development follows a path of forward - looking planning. As the world's two largest power companies, the State Grid and China Southern Power Grid usually plan the layout of power sources and grid construction 5 - 10 years in advance based on long - term load forecasts and economic development plans. This development concept of "moderately ahead in power development" ensures a reasonable margin between China's installed power - generation capacity and the maximum electricity consumption load. In 2023, China added 370 million kilowatts of installed power - generation capacity, 170 million kilowatts more than the previous year, and the total installed capacity reached 2.92 billion kilowatts. In contrast, the average annual increase in power - generation installed capacity in the United States in the past decade was less than one - tenth of that in China, and Europe has fallen into a "power investment gap" due to environmental policy restrictions and insufficient investment, directly leading to a supply - demand imbalance.
Another unique advantage of China's power system lies in its centralized and unified dispatching system. Different from the fragmented regional power grids in the United States or the complex cross - national coordination mechanism in Europe, China implements a unified dispatching model of "one national chessboard." The National Power Dispatching and Control Center can allocate power resources across regions. During peak load periods, it can transmit the surplus renewable energy power in the west to the load centers in the east through the ultra - high voltage power grid and coordinate different power source types to achieve an optimal combination. In 2023, China completed 849.7 billion kilowatt - hours of cross - regional power transmission, a year - on - year increase of 9.7%. This large - scale resource optimization and allocation ability is beyond the reach of most countries.
"What is most amazing about China's power system is not its scale but its ability to effectively organize the huge system," an analyst from the International Energy Agency commented. This organizational ability is not only reflected in hardware construction but also in institutional design: China's medium - and long - term power contract system ensures a stable supply of thermal coal. In 2023, the total volume of medium - and long - term thermal coal contracts signed nationwide was nearly 2.5 billion tons; the coal inventory of unified - regulated power plants remained at a historical high of over 200 million tons. This "supply - guarantee mechanism" eliminates the risk of power outages caused by fuel shortages at the source. While the power markets in Western countries are dominated by short - term price signals, China achieves a reliable supply of this key infrastructure through the coordinated action of the "visible hand" of the government and the "invisible hand" of the market.
How is China Rewriting Global Energy Rules?
China's rise as an "Electricity Empire" is not just about scale. Behind it are a series of breakthroughs and commercial applications of disruptive technologies. From the world's highest - parameter coal - fired power generation technology to the globally leading ultra - high voltage power transmission network, from large - scale integration of renewable energy to grid management empowered by artificial intelligence, China is redefining the possible boundaries of the power industry through technological innovation.
Germany's Der Spiegel once sighed: "In the field of energy technology, China has changed from a follower to a definer, and other countries now need to study China's standards and specifications."
Ultra - supercritical coal - fired technology represents China's peak achievement in the field of traditional energy. The third - generation ultra - supercritical units developed by China can raise the steam temperature to 1360 degrees Celsius and the pressure to over 35 megapascals, enabling the coal - fired efficiency to exceed 50%, far higher than the global average of 35%. This means that for the same amount of electricity generation, China's most advanced coal - fired power plants can use 30% less coal than ordinary power plants and significantly reduce emissions. More notably, China not only masters this technology but also realizes large - scale application. As of 2023, China had put into operation more than 120 million - kilowatt - class ultra - supercritical units, accounting for over 80% of the global total. This ability to rapidly industrialize cutting - edge technologies has enabled China's coal - fired power to lead most developed countries in terms of efficiency and environmental protection indicators.
The technological breakthroughs in the field of renewable energy are even more remarkable. In the Gobi Desert in Dunhuang, China has built the world's largest molten - salt tower - type solar thermal power station. Through tens of thousands of heliostats, sunlight is reflected to the central heat - collection tower to heat molten salt and store thermal energy, achieving 24 - hour continuous power generation. This technology, which foreign media calls the "solar magic mirror," solves the problem of intermittency in photovoltaic power generation. In terms of hydropower, the world's first million - kilowatt hydro - turbine unit installed at the Baihetan Hydropower Station has a single - unit capacity equivalent to that of a medium - sized nuclear power plant. Each rotation of the runner can generate 150 kilowatt - hours of electricity, and the design accuracy reaches one - twentieth of the thickness of a human hair. In 2023, China's installed hydropower capacity reached 420 million kilowatts, including 50.94 million kilowatts of pumped - storage power, providing key peak - shaving and frequency - modulation capabilities for the power grid.
Ultra - high voltage power transmission technology is another trump card in China's hand. The ±1100 - kilovolt Zhundong - Wannan ultra - high voltage direct - current project has a transmission distance of 3324 kilometers and a capacity of 12 million kilowatts, both of which are the highest in the world. This "power expressway" enables China to transport the rich energy resources in the west and north to the load centers in the east, solving the problem of reverse distribution of energy. As of 2023, China has built an "ultra - high voltage backbone grid" with a cross - regional power transmission capacity of 188.15 million kilowatts, a figure that exceeds the total installed capacity of Germany. Ultra - high voltage not only plays an important role in China but has also become a landmark product for China's technology export. The Belo Monte ultra - high voltage project in Brazil is a successful example of China's solutions going global.
China is also at the forefront of the global intelligent transformation of the power system. The "Optical Engine" intelligent engine developed by the State Grid Corporation integrates big data, artificial intelligence, and digital twin technology. It can achieve intelligent analysis of the power grid topology, intelligent risk assessment, and intelligent management of overload, shortening the time for formulating load transfer plans from hours to minutes.
The breakthrough progress in energy - storage technology provides key flexibility for China's power system. In 2023, China completed and put into operation more than 24 million kilowatts of new - type energy - storage projects, covering various technological routes such as lithium - ion batteries, compressed air, and flywheels. In Qinghai Province, the world's largest liquid - air energy - storage demonstration project was successfully connected to the grid, with a single - time energy - storage capacity of up to 400 megawatt - hours. These energy - storage facilities, together with pumped - storage power stations, form a "giant power bank" for China's power grid, effectively stabilizing the volatility of renewable energy.
The collective breakthroughs in China's power technology are not accidental but the result of the coordinated action of national strategies and market forces. The 15th Five - Year Plan lists the construction of a new - type power system as an important theme in the first half of the period, clearly requiring the promotion of projects such as flexible transformation and intelligent upgrading.
Is There a "Geo - Economics" of Electricity?
China's power advantage is being transformed into real economic competitiveness, reshaping the global industrial layout and value - chain distribution. While European enterprises are struggling with soaring energy costs, Chinese manufacturing enjoys a stable and inexpensive electricity supply. The cost difference of this key production factor is triggering a quiet global industrial "heart transplant" operation. The British Financial Times pointed out: "Electricity has become China's most hidden but most powerful economic weapon, quietly changing the power structure of global manufacturing."
The electrolytic aluminum industry is the most direct beneficiary of China's power advantage. In this "power - hungry" industry, the electricity cost accounts for up to 40% of the total production cost, and a slight difference in electricity price can determine the survival of enterprises. In Yunnan, thanks to abundant hydropower resources and a preferential electricity price of 0.25 yuan per kilowatt - hour, Chinese electrolytic aluminum enterprises have an overwhelming advantage. In contrast, European counterparts face an electricity price equivalent to over 3 yuan per kilowatt - hour, a difference of more than ten times. This huge cost gap has led to the continuous shrinkage of the European aluminum industry. In 2023, the EU's primary aluminum production dropped to the lowest level since the 1970s, while China's production accounted for over 60% of the global total. Similar stories are also happening in high - energy - consuming industries such as steel, chemicals, and cement. China is constantly consolidating its global leading position in basic industries with its power - cost advantage.
The leading development of renewable energy has given China a head start in the competition in the green industry. Approximately 60% of the batteries for Tesla's Berlin factory come from CATL, highlighting China's core position in the electric - vehicle industry chain. China not only has the world's largest production capacity of power batteries but also controls the processing of key minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel. This vertical integration advantage largely stems from China's green - electricity supply capacity. Only by using renewable energy to produce batteries can the increasingly strict carbon - footprint requirements of the EU be met. Similarly, the entire photovoltaic system of the Saudi Red Sea New City project is provided by China, and a Chinese photovoltaic power station is built to support BMW's factory in Debrecen, Hungary. These cases show that China is exporting a new model of "green electricity + manufacturing."
China's power advantage has also created a unique scientific research ecosystem, making some energy - intensive frontier research feasible in China. The JF - 22 hypersonic wind tunnel, the world's most advanced hypersonic wind tunnel, consumes up to 5.41 million kilowatt - hours of electricity per test. In Europe and the United States, not only is the construction cost of such facilities high, but the operating cost is also astronomical. This difference in scientific research thresholds has enabled China to gradually accumulate a non - negligible advantage in strategic fields such as aerospace and materials science. As an American defense analyst said: "To some extent, the future competition in military technology depends on who has stronger power support."
The rise of artificial intelligence, the "power - hungry monster," has further magnified China's power advantage. Training a GPT - 4 - level large - scale model once requires 240 million kilowatt - hours of electricity, and the daily operation consumes about 500,000 kilowatt - hours. Facing such huge energy demand, American technology giants such as Microsoft are eager to explore new - type energy sources such as nuclear fusion, while China has started building fourth - generation nuclear power plants and is planning special AI computing - power parks in Gansu, Inner Mongolia, and other places, supporting them with large - scale renewable energy bases. This coordinated development model of energy and the digital economy gives China a unique advantage in the upcoming AI competition. As a Deloitte report pointed out: "The AI competition will soon become a 'duet' between China and the United States, and power - supply capacity may be the key factor in determining the outcome."
China's foreign cooperation model in the power sector is also undergoing a qualitative leap, shifting from simple equipment export to system export. In Southeast Asia, China not only undertakes the construction of power stations but also helps plan regional power grids; in Africa, Chinese enterprises cooperate with local partners to develop integrated "solar - storage - charging" solutions; in the Middle East, China participates in the construction of the entire - chain energy system from power generation to consumption. This "turn - key project" model has deeply embedded China's standards and technologies in the local energy systems. According to data from the International Energy Agency, in 2023, the number of people without access to electricity globally dropped below 750 million, and Chinese enterprises have made great contributions to this achievement. This development - oriented cooperation not only expands China's influence but also brings real benefits to local areas.
The ultimate manifestation of China's geo - economic influence in the power sector may be the emerging concept of "global power interconnection." Connecting China's power grid with those of neighboring countries through ultra - high voltage technology to build a regional or even global energy internet. If this vision is realized, it will fundamentally reshape the world energy pattern. Although facing multiple challenges such as politics and technology, China has made substantial progress in cross - border power grid projects in countries such as Kazakhstan and Laos. This new - type regional cooperation linked by power may become an important pillar of the future international economic order.
This article is from the "Science and Innovation Finance Society," author: Yuan Fang, published with the authorization of 36Kr.