The electricity load has repeatedly broken historical records. How does Zhejiang, regarded as an "exemplary student", cope with the "roasting" heat?

The sweltering heatwave is hitting, and the power grid load curve continues to rise.

On July 16, according to the data from State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., Ltd., as of around 12:40 on July 16, the electricity consumption load of the whole society in Zhejiang this summer reached 126 million kilowatts, hitting a new historical high.

This is not the first time that Zhejiang's power load has broken the record this summer.

According to the introduction of the Energy Bureau of Zhejiang Province, on July 4, the maximum electricity consumption load of the whole province in Zhejiang reached 121.73 million kilowatts, breaking through the 120 million - kilowatt mark 15 days earlier than last year. The power grid loads in Hangzhou, Shaoxing and other places even refreshed the historical records.

It is predicted that the maximum loads during the noon and evening peaks in Zhejiang this summer will reach 133 million kilowatts and 117 million kilowatts respectively, a year - on - year increase of 7.8%. The power supply guarantee is facing the "three most" challenges of "the largest increase in electricity consumption in the country, the highest utilization rate of power generation equipment in the country, and the largest proportion of external electricity in the country".

Residents have their air - conditioners fully turned on, and enterprises are rushing to produce.

Facing the "three most" challenges , Zhejiang has made concerted efforts in multiple dimensions and launched a set of "combination punches" to cope with the peak summer demand, laying a solid energy foundation for the stable operation of the province's economy and society, and also providing a highly valuable "Zhejiang model" for the whole country.

01

For Zhejiang, a province with relatively scarce energy resources, power source guarantee and project construction are the core of power supply guarantee.

On the one hand, Zhejiang strengthens the stable output of coal - fired power. By using policies such as the coal - fired power capacity price, it urges power generation enterprises to strengthen the management of the quality of coal inventory and the daily maintenance of units, ensuring that the main coal - fired power units can "step up and generate full power" at critical moments. At the same time, it gives full play to the resource allocation advantage of the large power grid, flexibly purchases additional temporary external electricity, and makes full use of the transmission capacity of cross - provincial and cross - regional power transmission channels to effectively increase the power supply.

On the other hand, Zhejiang is also making early arrangements and accelerating the implementation of major power source projects.

Since this year, a number of "ballast stone" power source projects in Zhejiang have been put into operation intensively: Three million - kilowatt - class high - efficiency coal - fired power units, such as Unit 9 of Jiaxing Power Plant of Zhejiang Energy, Unit 8 of Beilun Power Plant of Guoneng, and Unit 3 of Wenzhou Power Plant of China Resources, have been put into production on schedule. These projects have exceeded the installed capacity plan before the peak summer, becoming the key force for Zhejiang to cope with the summer peak.

From January to May, the energy investment in the whole province reached 75.4 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 23%. The total installed power capacity exceeded 170 million kilowatts, a year - on - year increase of more than 21%, providing solid hardware support for power supply guarantee.

While consolidating the "ballast stone" of traditional power, Zhejiang is also promoting the green transformation and structural optimization of energy simultaneously.

As of the end of June, the installed photovoltaic capacity in Zhejiang has reached 60.26 million kilowatts, becoming the largest power source in the province, and the proportion of renewable energy installed capacity has exceeded 50%. This surging "green power" has injected sustainable momentum for the future into Zhejiang's power supply guarantee under high - temperature conditions.

Actually, the overall power supply in Zhejiang is abundant.

In recent years, Zhejiang has witnessed an unprecedented concentration period of power source construction. By the end of 2024, the total installed power capacity in the province had reached 150 million kilowatts, a 47% increase compared with the end of 2020. In the first half of the year, Zhejiang accelerated the construction of the power grid, with an additional grid - connected photovoltaic installed capacity of 12.2 million kilowatts. Under sunny weather conditions, the power supply can be increased by more than 5 million kilowatts during the noon peak electricity consumption period.

In addition, one - third of Zhejiang's electricity consumption depends on external input. On the basis of purchasing power resources from other provinces through medium - and long - term agreements in the early stage, State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power has purchased additional electricity from the northwest, southwest, Fujian and other places, opened up new channels from Heilongjiang, Henan, Guangxi and other places, and further expanded the stable medium - and long - term external power supply, achieving full coverage of the seven major regions in the country for medium - and long - term power purchase.

At present, the maximum external power resources purchased by Zhejiang during the evening peak period reach 43.4 million kilowatts, about a 10% increase compared with 2024. This electricity is sent to Zhejiang through UHV projects. Recently, the three major "West - to - East Power Transmission" UHV transmission projects of Binjin, Baizhe, and Lingshao have all achieved high - power operation. Especially for the Lingshao UHV project, the Shaoxing converter station has been operating at full power for 21 consecutive days during the evening peak period, and the average daily power transmission of a single project reaches 170 million kilowatt - hours.

02

In Wuyi County, Jinhua, a giant energy storage power station covering an area of 40 mu is quietly releasing energy. As the largest grid - side energy storage project in Zhejiang, the 200MW/400MWh Xinyuan Energy Storage Station in Wuyi is like a "stabilizer" embedded in the power grid.

This giant "power grid power bank" uses 314Ah large - capacity lithium iron phosphate batteries, with 88 battery cabins and 44 integrated converter - step - up cabins. In the Jinhua power grid with a relatively large proportion of new energy installed capacity, it is like a "power sponge", stabilizing the sharp fluctuations of wind and solar power generation, providing immediate support for a 200 - megawatt frequency - regulation capacity, and also reducing the wear and tear of thermal power units and delaying the pressure of power grid upgrade.

The energy storage project in Wuyi is just a microcosm of Zhejiang's construction of an interactive ecosystem of "power source, grid, load, and storage".

If all means to increase power supply are "hard measures", then more flexible, intelligent and adaptable "soft measures" can not only improve the regulation ability and enhance the system resilience, but also further expand the space for power generation increase and adjustment.

Among them, as the "vanguard" of regulation, new - type energy storage in Zhejiang is rising rapidly.

Since last year, pumped - storage power stations in Ninghai, Ningbo and Jinyun, Lishui in Zhejiang have been put into operation, with an additional pumped - storage installed capacity of 2.6 million kilowatts. Since this summer, the maximum output has been close to 6.98 million kilowatts, jointly supporting the power supply guarantee in Zhejiang and the East China region.

New - type energy storage is also a flexible regulation resource. As of the end of June, the installed capacity of grid - side energy storage in the province reached 2.36 million kilowatts, with a maximum output of more than 2 million kilowatts; the installed capacity of user - side energy storage reached 2.32 million kilowatts, helping the power grid and industrial and commercial enterprises to store electricity independently and relieve the power supply pressure of the whole province during peak periods.

In addition, with the empowerment of technology, the "soft measures" for power supply guarantee not only include energy storage and the "power source, grid, load, and storage" model, but also the "invisible hand" such as virtual power plants.

For example, in the Yiwu International Trade City with more than 70,000 shops, as the first batch of demonstration projects for the coordination of power source, grid, load, and storage in the new - type power system by the Energy Bureau of Zhejiang Province, the "Demonstration Project for the Coordination of Power Source, Grid, Load, and Storage in the Trade City" is providing continuous kinetic energy for the East Complex Building of Area 2.

According to the relevant person in charge of State Grid Yiwu Power Supply Company, this project integrates photovoltaic, energy storage, charging, intelligent control, and service platforms, covering resources such as 1.2MW rooftop photovoltaic, 3 sets of 250kW/680kWh energy storage batteries, and 251 charging parking spaces (44 fast - charging guns have been configured in the first phase). It connects photovoltaic, energy storage, fast - charging piles, intelligent control, phase - change cold storage, and power distribution optimization to the terminal comprehensive energy intelligent platform, enabling remote real - time monitoring, dynamic analysis, and precise control of resources.

At present, relying on the comprehensive energy intelligent platform, Yiwu Power Supply Company effectively stabilizes the load during peak electricity consumption periods through the coordinated peak - shaving of photovoltaic power generation and energy storage systems. At the same time, it uses the advantage of low - valley electricity price to charge energy storage and store cold for cold - storage air - conditioners, saving more than 1.19 million yuan in electricity costs annually.

The relevant person in charge of the Energy Bureau of Zhejiang Province introduced that the virtual power plant project in Zhejiang has gone through long - term technical accumulation and policy preparation and achieved a key breakthrough in 2025: In June, Zhejiang officially issued special rules for virtual power plants to participate in the power market, laying a institutional foundation for large - scale operation. On July 8, Zhejiang carried out its first market - oriented power response of new - type entities. A total of 19 virtual power plants in the province aggregated 265 secondary users to participate, with a maximum regulated load of 290,000 kilowatts, marking a new stage for virtual power plants in Zhejiang to participate in the power system load regulation on a regular basis.

From Zhejiang's exploration and practice, in the power supply guarantee work in the era of the new - type power system, we must combine short - term and long - term measures, address both the symptoms and root causes, coordinate resources from various parties such as inside and outside the province, demand and supply, power source and grid, pay more attention to the decisive role of the market in the optimal allocation of power resources, rely on the market and technological innovation to solve problems such as new - energy consumption, balance of power supply guarantee resources, and stable prices for industrial and commercial enterprises, and promote the construction of a systematic and long - term "green, stable and reliable" mechanism.

Obviously, Zhejiang, which has always been characterized by pragmatism, innovation and openness, is presenting a "Zhejiang answer" of "digitalized energy utilization, green and low - carbon development" in the wave of the energy revolution.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Foreseeing Energy". Author: Foreseeing Energy. Republished by 36Kr with permission.