Why has a white paper from NVIDIA made players in the AIDC power sector restless?
Choosing the right direction is even more important.
“In the future AI data centers, 800V DC will become the standardized power supply architecture for AI factories, and SST (Solid State Transformer) is its ultimate technological form.”
At the OCP Global Summit that opened on October 13, 2025, NVIDIA released the 800V DC White Paper, which seems to be "settling the score" for the technological roadmap of the AIDC power supply industry.
The computing power wave brought by AIDC is reshaping the entire power supply ecosystem. Enterprises such as Google, Meta, and Alibaba are closely watching this transformation. NVIDIA's statement undoubtedly adds fuel to the already heating up HVDC track.
What is HVDC?
HVDC, short for High Voltage Direct Current power supply, is a power supply method centered on direct current. In contrast, most data centers currently use alternating current (AC) power supply.
The difference between the two is that alternating current needs to go through multiple "transformations" before it can be sent to the server, resulting in more intermediate losses and lower efficiency.
While HVDC is more direct, with a shorter energy path and fewer conversion links. In addition, the high voltage brings higher efficiency and stronger reliability.
The power consumption of NVIDIA's Blackwell Ultra factory has increased by 75%, but its performance has increased by 50 times.
However, improving efficiency and saving electricity bills are not the only advantages of HVDC.
In the AI era, due to the sharp increase in the power of a single cabinet, the heat dissipation caused by power loss is already quite astonishing, and high temperature is the natural enemy of the stable operation of chips and data centers.
Therefore, the HVDC technology, which can reduce the heat dissipation pressure in data centers, especially in cabinets, due to its high power conversion efficiency, will naturally be favored.
As the spokesperson for global computing power, NVIDIA's statements often indicate the next step of the industry. So when it bets on the latest route, the entire computing power supply chain has to turn accordingly.
01
Internet enterprises are most anxious about the development speed of HVDC
NVIDIA's actions are like a starting gun, pushing HVDC into the spotlight. In contrast, although the market sentiment is hot, the global penetration rate of HVDC is actually less than 3%.
This penetration rate forms two completely different trends from the rapid development of AIDC (Intelligent Computing Center).
So the first ones who can't sit still are not the power supply manufacturers, but the computing power customers behind them.
NVIDIA took the lead. It first determined the 800VDC direction in its own Vera Rubin and Kyber architectures, trying to define the power supply standard for the next - generation AI data centers.
Its partners such as CoreWeave and Hon Hai also quickly responded and launched the deployment of new - type data centers.
The upstream and downstream industrial chains then followed up. The upstream Megmeet and Delta Electronics launched 800V rack power supplies. Vertiv released the 26H2 series, and Navias joined hands with NV to launch high - power GaN and SiC devices.
The downstream giants such as Google, Microsoft, and Meta are testing the ±400VDC split architecture. The DC trend is moving from the laboratory to the mass - production end.
Policies are pushing HVDC from experiments to large - scale applications. In recent years, many documents targeting computing power infrastructure have emphasized on - demand layout, green transformation, and the integration of computing power and industries.
This policy orientation has quickly been implemented in existing and newly built computer rooms.
Estimates show that about 40% of the standard racks across the country meet the conditions for green transformation. After upgrading to high - voltage direct current, not only can energy efficiency be improved, but also wiring can be reduced and heat dissipation pressure can be lowered, making the economic benefits of HVDC easier to realize.
Driven by both the market and policies, it seems difficult for the HVDC market not to grow. According to QYResearch's prediction, by 2029, the global HVDC market scale will exceed $15.68 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 6.9%.
The domestic market is expected to grow even more rapidly, jumping from 89.2 billion yuan in 2024 to 300 billion yuan in 2028.
Is HVDC really worry - free? Are traditional UPS and new - type SST really vulnerable?
Not necessarily.
02
Multiple solutions are implemented in parallel, but HVDC is the mainstream
The differences in different technological routes actually correspond to different implementation scenarios.
Currently, there are roughly 4 mainstream solutions: UPS, HVDC, Panama Power Supply (HVDC 2.0), and SST.
UPS still firmly holds the traditional data centers and the core computer rooms of finance, telecommunications and other industries with extremely high requirements for power supply quality. It has controllable risks and strong compatibility, making it the safest solution.
While HVDC is becoming the new favorite for newly built large - scale Internet data centers, cloud computing bases, and AI training centers.
These scenarios are extremely sensitive to energy consumption and space efficiency. HVDC can reduce OPEX (Operating Expenses) while saving wiring and heat dissipation space.
Especially the 800 - volt DC architecture, which increases voltage and reduces current, not only significantly reduces power loss and copper consumption, but also solves the heat - generation problem of high - density racks.
The 800V DC mentioned by NVIDIA can be simply understood as the HVDC 2.0 solution (Panama Power Supply), which only integrates the medium - voltage rectification module and simplifies the traditional HVDC from three levels to two levels.
Comparison of AC and DC power lines
In the white paper released by NVIDIA, the mainstream trends of current solutions are classified as follows:
The first stage is a transitional solution, which involves adding an 800VDC power cabinet to the existing computer room.
The second stage is a hybrid architecture with the coexistence of alternating current and direct current.
The final stage is full DC, directly reducing from medium voltage (10kV) to 800VDC to achieve a complete DC power supply link.
It can be seen that even NVIDIA, the most radical in technology, is still in the exploration stage. The real large - scale implementation of HVDC still takes time.
And SST (Solid State Transformer) is regarded as a potential direction for the next - generation AIDC.
It can achieve higher efficiency and higher power density in computing power clusters exceeding 1MW, making it very suitable for super - large data centers pursuing the ultimate PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness).
However, currently SST is still in the experimental and conceptual stage. Although the mainstream view in the market regards SST as the "ultimate solution", in the short term, SST still has a long way to go before commercialization.
Cost and reliability are still the biggest obstacles.
Taking an 800kW system as an example, the quoted price of a ±400V HVDC product is about $450,000 (including installation and one - year warranty). The price of a UPS with the same capacity is about $120 per kilowatt, which adds up to only about $100,000. Due to the high degree of customization of SST, there is almost no standard quotation at present.
Therefore, the hybrid architecture of "mains direct supply + HVDC" seems to be a more practical choice and has been implemented in the data centers of many domestic and foreign Internet giants.
This model can ensure high availability of services while significantly improving energy efficiency and reducing TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), becoming the most practical compromise solution at present.
Data center architecture changing over time
03
With rich experience, domestic power supply enterprises are expected to take the lead
As the HVDC route becomes clearer, the competition focus among enterprises begins to emerge.
Taking NVIDIA as an example, its server power supply system used to have a clear boundary.
Outside the cabinet, it was controlled by UPS manufacturers such as Eaton, Vertiv, and Schneider. Inside the cabinet, it was dominated by module power supply manufacturers such as Delta and Lite - On.
After the emergence of HVDC, this boundary became blurred. Manufacturers originally limited to the inside and outside of the cabinet can compete for the market under the new architecture.
The current HVDC market has obvious characteristics: large market size, few players, and high entry barriers.
It has great potential, but the technical threshold is high and the certification cycle is long. There are not many enterprises that can simultaneously engage in power electronics and system integration.
Therefore, the concentration of the industry is relatively low, and the competition is still in the early stage.
In the context of "projects promoting technological implementation", Chinese HVDC - related enterprises have natural advantages.
For example, they have already accumulated experience in UPS, module power supplies, and system integration. At the same time, cross - border enterprises can quickly transfer their capabilities in energy storage and inverters to the HVDC scenario.
In the past two years, the "Eastern Data, Western Computing" project and the large - scale launch of AI large models have made China one of the markets with the strongest global computing power demand.
Once a project is approved, the power supply system has to keep up synchronously. Even for a new architecture, it has to be launched first and then optimized. This allows domestic enterprises to be more daring to take the lead in implementing new technologies than those in Europe and the United States.
Moreover, the power supply systems in China and foreign countries also differ. China's Internet giants promote the HVDC - Panama solution, pursuing higher integration and energy efficiency.
Overseas manufacturers prefer the OCP standard system, using PSU + BBU to replace the traditional UPS, which is more suitable for high - power - consumption computing power scenarios.
The progress in the European market is relatively conservative, but in China, opportunities are rapidly accumulating.
Enterprises such as Hopewind Electric, Kehua Data, and Zhongheng Electric have formed technological advantages in the fields of HVDC, lithium - battery replacement, and rectifier modules.
Among them, Zhongheng Electric, as the domestic leader in HVDC, serves mainstream cloud providers such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu, and has joined hands with the US - listed company Super X to establish a joint venture to explore overseas markets.
Kehua Data has won orders from domestic leading cloud providers and has entered the core CSP camp in North America through channel cooperation.
Meanwhile, more and more cross - border players are entering the market.
Sunshine Power is a typical representative. For it, power supplies and inverters are similar in underlying topology and control logic, so entering the AIDC field is not a "cross - border adventure". The successful transformations of Kstar and Kehua Data in the past have verified this logic.
Now, with its accumulation in the inverter and energy storage fields, Sunshine Power has gained a first - mover advantage in technology and application.
Its PowerTitan 3.0 platform uses a T - type three - level topology and SiC MOSFETs, which are naturally compatible with the HVDC system and also provide practical support for new scenarios such as "direct connection of green power to the computing power center".
Another photovoltaic inverter and energy storage giant, Deye Technology, is also deploying AIDC power supplies.
Liu Shujian, the company's secretary of the board, revealed that Deye is developing SST (Solid State Transformer), planning to apply it to both data centers and micro - grid scenarios simultaneously, to open up new links for energy storage and power supply systems.
Conclusion
The HVDC market is still evolving at a high speed. There are multiple routes and inconsistent standards, and the pattern is not yet clear.
As one of the world's largest power supply customers, NVIDIA has drawn the first relatively clear route with its white paper, bringing a glimmer of certainty to the market.
Against this background, the opportunities for domestic HVDC - layout enterprises are concentrated and visible.
Under this background, domestic UPS and HVDC enterprises such as Zhongheng Electric, Oulu Tong, Kehua Data, Megmeet, Kstar, Shenghong Co., Ltd., and Hopewind Electric, which have long - term accumulations, are all gearing up.
After all, this is one of the few clear - cut opportunities in the energy era. If they don't seize it, the window of opportunity will really close.
This article is from the WeChat public account "New Energy Industry Expert", author: Liu Ran, editor: Chen Shuai. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.