China's power load has repeatedly hit new records this summer as a sustained heatwave drives surging electricity demand, with the national grid operator deploying cross-regional transfers and boosting supply to maintain stability.

After the national power load hit a record 1.52 TW on July 10, it set another all-time high of 1.55 TW on July 14, according to the National Energy Administration (NEA).

Every 1 degree Celsius rise in average summer temperature adds 40-50 GW of power load, with consecutive hot days further lifting demand, the NEA estimated. The agency had forecast China's maximum power load for 2026 at 1.58-1.6 TW, potentially exceeding 1.6 TW under extreme widespread heat.

The overall power supply-demand situation remains balanced, with no demand response or orderly power usage measures implemented nationwide, the NEA said.

Multiple provincial grids have set new load records. On July 14, grids in central China, as well as southern Hebei, Sichuan, Hubei and Hunan provinces, all hit all-time highs. Hunan's grid load reached 48.09 GW on July 14, a record, and is expected to peak above 50.5 GW. Sichuan's grid load hit a record 74.32 GW on July 13.

China Southern Power Grid's peak load reached 275 GW, up 14.8% year on year, setting a new record four times. Jiangsu's grid load hit a record 157.59 GW on July 16, marking the tenth consecutive year it has exceeded 100 GW. Shanghai's grid load hit a record 42.22 GW on July 15, the first day of the traditional "sanfu" hottest period, with air conditioning cooling accounting for about 44% of the city's total load.

Northern provinces were also seeing surging demand. Hebei's grid summer peak load reached 55.76 GW lately, another record, driven by persistent hot and humid weather.

Authorities are taking multiple measures to boost supply. As of June 30, power plant coal inventory stood at 26.4 days of consumption, historically high. Liu Zhiqiang, deputy director of the China Electricity Council's planning and development department, said the industry must ensure coal-producing regions fulfill safety and supply responsibilities, promote orderly capacity release, and enforce long-term contract performance to guarantee stable, timely supply.

State Grid Corp of China has deployed 24 measures across six areas for summer supply and 26 flood-prevention measures across eight areas, completing 168 key summer peak projects on schedule. It is implementing a coordination mechanism of "unified grid planning, regional responsibility, one policy per province, one plan per region".

On the transmission side, the 800 kV ultra-high voltage direct current (UHVDC) line from northern Shaanxi to Anhui has entered operation, capable of delivering 36 TWh of electricity annually to Anhui. In the northwest, multiple Xinjiang-to-external transmission lines are supporting national supply, with the Hami-Zhengzhou DC line delivering an average of 123 GWh daily and a single-day peak of 146 GWh.

An NEA official said cross-grid mutual assistance has been innovated this year, with market-based trading of cross-grid transmission rights for the first time. On July 14, cross-provincial transmission capacity reached a combined 130 GW, supporting supply in Zhejiang and Shanghai.

On the demand side, China's peak load regulation capacity exceeds 90 GW, or over 6% of peak load. More than 530 virtual power plants have been built, with a maximum regulation capacity of over 18 GW. On July 16, China's first full-stack domestic smart operations model for a hydro-solar integrated clean energy base — the Yalong River hydro-solar integrated smart operations model — was launched, adding an "AI dispatcher" for summer peak management.

Clean energy has made a significant contribution to summer supply. During midday hours, solar power output typically accounts for over 35% of total generation, with more than one in every four kilowatt-hours consumed being green electricity. As of end-May, China's installed renewable energy capacity reached 1.92 TW, accounting for 48.1% of total installed capacity. During peak load records, renewable energy output exceeded 600 GW, contributing over 40% of peak generation.

Overall, despite repeated record power loads during the 2026 summer peak, China's power supply-demand balance has remained stable, supported by enhanced supply capacity, deepening cross-regional power transfers, and a significant rise in renewable energy's contribution. With artificial intelligence and other digital technologies increasingly integrated into power dispatch and operations, power supply management is shifting from experience-based judgment to data-driven decision-making, providing stronger technical support for future load challenges.