On September 20th, CCTV Finance’s “Dialogue” aired an interview with the theme of “The Future of Electricity”. Guests such as Qian Zhimin, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and deputy director of the Population, Resources and Environment Committee, Zhu Gongshan, Chairman of GCL Group, and Zhang Chuanwei, Chairman of Mingyang Smart Energy, participated in this dialogue.

The discussion mainly focused on the future of energy, the future of electricity, and the next steps or key links in the development of new energy.

Qian Zhimin said that the current overall situation of China’s power industry: Take the typical peak periods of June and July as an example. Coal accounts for about 60% of the power generation capacity, wind and solar power 16%, hydropower 17%, and nuclear power approximately 5%. However, in fact, the installed capacity of wind and solar power has already surpassed that of thermal power. But the power level that wind and solar power can meet is, on the one hand, dependent on the weather, and on the other hand, due to its intermittent nature, the available hours are relatively low. Therefore, under the new circumstances, ensuring power supply may also bring brand-new challenges.

Zhu Gongshan, the chairman of GCL Group, believes: “The output of power generation cannot be determined based on the total installed capacity. Wind and solar power are unlimited, but they are inherently supplementary energy sources and will surely become the main energy sources in the future. However, it is necessary to establish a large digital and intelligent model, build a new energy system, and integrate source-grid-load-storage-consumption and digitalization.” “

Zhang Chuanwei, the chairman of Mingyang Smart Energy, mentioned: “We cannot view wind and solar power as long-distance power transmission or large-scale power generation. Its attribute lies in achieving localization of production and consumption, and its economic benefits and value are all here.” Second, it can address the green development of new industries. The current new industrial system and new energy supply system, such as digital computing power and the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, will mainly rely on green electricity in the future.

What is the current basic energy situation in China?

Qian Zhimin, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and deputy director of the Population, Resources and Environment Committee, introduced the current overall situation of China’s power industry: Take the typical peak periods of June and July as an example. Coal accounts for about 60% of the power generation capacity, wind and solar power 16%, hydropower 17%, and nuclear power approximately 5%. However, in fact, the installed capacity of wind and solar power has already surpassed that of thermal power. But the power level that wind and solar power can meet is, on the one hand, dependent on the weather, and on the other hand, due to its intermittent nature, the available hours are relatively low. At the same time, Qian Zhimin also pointed out that the public’s tolerance for power shortages is currently lower than before. If there is a power outage for half an hour or an hour now, neither the common people nor any industry can bear it. Therefore, under the new circumstances, it may also bring brand-new challenges to power supply security.

Zhu Gongshan, the chairman of GCL Group, said, “The output of power generation cannot be determined based on the total installed capacity. Wind and solar power are unlimited, but they are inherently supplementary energy sources and will surely become the main energy sources in the future. However, it is necessary to establish a large digital and intelligent model, build a new energy system, and integrate source-grid-load-storage-consumption and digitalization.”

Zhang Chuanwei, the chairman of Mingyang Smart Energy, mentioned: “We cannot view wind power as merely long-distance power transmission or large-scale power generation. Its attribute lies in achieving localization of production and consumption, and its economic benefits and value are all here.” Second, it can address the green development of new industries. The current new industrial system and new energy supply system, such as digital computing power and the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, will mainly rely on green electricity in the future.

What new trends are emerging in current electricity consumption?

Cheng Lu, CEO of Xinao Digital Energy Technology, said, “Nowadays, the proportion of electricity in terminal energy consumption is getting higher and higher. In the past, household appliances were mainly televisions and refrigerators, but now there are more and more electric vehicles, vacuum cleaners and smart devices.” In China, the proportion of electricity in terminal energy consumption has now exceeded 30%, and it is expected to exceed 60% by 2050, doubling again. This will bring about very significant changes in the power structure.
Cao Kaihu, the director of Nengjian Energy Research Institute, mentioned: “By 2030, the number of electric vehicles in our country may reach approximately 150 million. What does this number mean?” Theoretically, its maximum load might reach 2.5 billion kilowatts. This is roughly equivalent to the total power consumption of the entire society. If the electric vehicle industry is in disorder, policies are not guided, and technological innovation is not fast enough, it may cause a huge impact on the entire power system.”
Tang Renhu, the chairman of Zhongchuang Carbon Investment, said, “Currently, the demand for electricity in AI data centers is surging. By 2024, it will consume approximately 200 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, and by 2035, it will need around 1.2 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.” How can the demand brought by this kind of load be met? So, at this stage, the matching of supply and demand is indeed facing a new phase. It is possible that the previous pure policies, pure mechanisms, and pure sentiments cannot solve the problem. It will have to rely on future digital tools. How to achieve a more systematic matching might be the issue that the consumption side and the supply side need to continuously collide in the future.

Qian Zhimin, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and deputy director of the Population, Resources and Environment Committee, also added: Although AI is on the rise and so are electric vehicles, there is still one thing that needs to be included in the demand for electricity, and that is the demand for green electricity. The equipment we export to Europe will start to be subject to carbon taxes in early 2026. So, in fact, there is also a green demand in the demand for electricity consumption. This is also a major problem currently faced by the energy and power industry.

How exactly will the emergence of virtual power plants reshape the future landscape of electricity?

Zhu Gongshan, the chairman of GCL Group, mentioned in the program: “If virtual power plants are truly rolled out, the total installed capacity of existing power generation can be reduced by 10% to 15%. In fact, at present, a large number of power stations are not playing their real role, and a lot of installations are for the highest time periods and the most peak loads.” With the advent of virtual power plants, the most cutting-edge loads can be addressed through virtual power plants.

Zhang Chuanwei, the chairman of Mingyang Smart Energy, said: Ten years ago, I had a dream that consuming electricity would not only be free of charge but also compensated. After we realized the virtual power plant, the energy consumption pattern at home also changed. You could freely combine your own electricity consumption pattern. Your electric vehicle, the small energy storage system at home, and the rooftop solar system could all build your electricity assets. Through virtual power plants, there is also the value of carbon assets. It’s possible that you haven’t paid a penny for electricity throughout the year and still earn the asset returns that energy should have. This possibility has already been realized today.

Qian Zhimin, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and deputy director of the Population, Resources and Environment Committee, added: The current power grid is difficult to regulate and control due to the abundance of new energy sources. However, if there are many virtual power plants there, the electricity can be regulated by these virtual power plants. During peak hours or when there is a power shortage, virtual power plants can help reduce the load. Most importantly, the cost of the regulation capacity formed by virtual power plants It is one-tenth of the cost of solving the regulation capacity of physical power plants, and it is also very beneficial to everyone. It is beneficial to the safety of the power grid and the safety of users’ electricity usage.

Cao Kaihu, the director of Nengjian Energy Research Institute, introduced: “The most prominent feature of virtual power plants is that they make secondary use of the existing distributed resources in the entire power system. They neither require new construction nor increase large fixed asset investment.” A true virtual power plant is a process of accumulating scattered distributed resources in society through a software platform.

Cheng Lu, the CEO of Xinao Shuneng Technology, added, “Virtual power plants are invisible and intangible, yet they truly exist.” At the bottom is an Internet of Things that connects every household, every building, every vehicle and every factory. In the middle is an AI decision-making brain that aggregates from bottom to top and participates in various transactions, responses and regulations of the power grid. Thirdly, it must extend to the terminal and be adjustable, controllable, observable and measurable.

What exactly will the future of electricity look like

Qian Zhimin, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and deputy director of the Population, Resources and Environment Committee, said, “I believe that future AI will be achieved through energy, and future energy will be achieved through the mutual promotion of AI. Therefore, I say that the end of AI is energy, and the end of energy is AI.”

Zhu Gongshan, the chairman of GCL Group, said, “Electricity plus computing power equals future productivity. The future lies in building a new type of power system.”
Zhang Chuanwei, the chairman of Mingyang Smart Energy, said, “In the future, energy will no longer be a value in itself, but rather creating value through energy itself.”
Cheng Lu, CEO of Xinaoshu Energy Technology: “What will electricity be like in the future?” Electricity and computing power are within easy reach. In the future, we might live in a sci-fi world where energy seems inexhaustible, driven by our AI brains. In the future, the energy system might not involve human intervention; it would be the AI brain that commands the highest efficiency, best safety, and lowest cost of the entire operating system.”