In July, China’s total power consumption again exceeded 1 trillion kWh;
electricity use by internet data services rose 40% YoY, with compute capacity
emerging as a major new source of demand. A smart compute center in Changshu,
Jiangsu, saw August peak load climb over 70% YoY; peak compute-industry load
reached 200 MW, about 4.1% of the city’s load. State Grid Changshu Power Supply
Company said the compute sector accounted for roughly 49% of the city’s
incremental load, indicating compute demand is replacing seasonal
air-conditioning as the main driver of summer power growth. In July, 106
compute-center firms in Jiangsu consumed >1.3 bln kWh, up 31% YoY;
supercomputing and smart compute centers accounted for more than 80% of that
usage.
