Jiangsu province's power grid peak load hit a record high on July 31, surpassing 160 GW for the first time and setting its fourth record this summer.

The grid reached 160.9 GW, making it the first provincial grid under State Grid Corp to exceed 160 GW, with load scale ranking first in the Yangtze River Delta region. Cities including Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Taizhou and Nantong have all seen record-high loads.

The National Energy Administration data shows the national peak load reached 1.55 TW in July, with Jiangsu accounting for about one-tenth. By comparison, Japan's peak load was about 160 GW in 2025, South Korea about 94 GW and Germany about 80 GW, putting Jiangsu's grid on par with Japan and ahead of South Korea and Germany.

Jiangsu's total electricity consumption reached 427.86 TWh in the first half, up 5.57% year on year, 2.25 percentage points higher than the same period in 2025.

Ruan Wenjun, head of the marketing department at State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power Co., said hot weather has driven concentrated air conditioning load, directly pushing up grid demand. Air conditioning load rose rapidly but accounted for 6.3 percentage points less than the 2025 peak, as power demand from computer communications equipment manufacturing, charging and swapping services, and internet data services grew 8.4%, 57.8% and 26.5% year on year respectively.

State Grid Jiangsu is using drones and visual equipment for three-dimensional inspections to detect faults early, with intelligent inspection systems at 1,540 substations operating around the clock. The company has established emergency response zones of 90 minutes for the main grid and 30 minutes for distribution networks, with mobile generators and aerial work vehicles pre-positioned for rapid fault handling.