State Grid, China’s largest utility and the world’s largest by customer base, has unveiled a five-year, $574 billion investment plan to modernize its electricity networks and expand renewable energy capacity through 2030. The investment represents a 40 percent increase over the previous five-year period and sets a record for the state-backed company.

The plan aims to build a “new type of power system,” with targets including adding 200 million kilowatts of renewable energy annually and increasing the share of non-fossil energy consumption to 25 percent by 2030. Major investments will focus on western regions of China, which have a surplus of generation capacity but limited transmission infrastructure.

Shares of Chinese electricity equipment manufacturers, including Siyuan Electric and Shanghai Guangdian Electric, rose sharply after the announcement, reflecting market expectations for increased demand for transformers and grid components.

Analysts note that grid expansion in western China will support the country’s national power market and meet the growing electricity demand from data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The International Energy Agency projects that China’s data centers will consume 170 percent more electricity from 2024 to 2030, accounting for a significant portion of global growth in energy use for AI.

The investment aligns with directives from the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration to upgrade existing networks and build next-generation infrastructure. Separately, China Southern Power Grid announced a 24 billion yuan increase in first-quarter grid investments, reflecting a broader trend in China’s power sector.

Source: msn.com