Huaxi Securities: AI Power Consumption Demand Continues to Rise, Agent Explosion Accelerates Demand

West China Securities points out that driven by the AI industry, computing power scale is rapidly increasing. Although currently China’s data center electricity consumption accounts for a small proportion of total social electricity use and remains within the support capacity of the power system in the short term, the proportion of electricity used for computing power continues to grow rapidly. On the policy level, green electricity is expected to increase its capacity to meet computing power demand. With the booming OpenClaw project, demand for AI Agents is expected to explode, and the surge in token numbers may further drive the demand for computing power, thereby increasing electricity demand.

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【West China Computer】Computing and Electricity Collaboration Boosts AI Industry Takeoff

This Week’s Viewpoint:

Enhanced Policy Positioning for Computing and Electricity Collaboration May Accelerate AI Infrastructure Development

On March 12, the Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress approved the government work report resolution, and “computing and electricity collaboration” was included in the Government Work Report for the first time in 2026, further elevating policy status. Computing and electricity collaboration is supported by new power systems, guided by high-quality development of computing infrastructure and the construction of a nationwide integrated computing network. It considers all elements and the entire lifecycle, deepening innovations in intelligent dispatching, source-grid-load-storage, new power supply and backup power, green electricity aggregation, and supply mechanisms. This aims to optimize the two major productive forces—computing power and electricity—across industry planning, production operations, resource dispatching, and market systems. The development of computing and electricity collaboration involves two key elements: the computing system and the power system. Key entities in the computing system include providers of computing resources and network operators; the power system mainly involves power generators, grid operators, and energy storage providers.

Demand Side: Continuous Increase in AI Electricity Demand, Agent Explosion Accelerates Demand

Driven by the AI industry, the scale of computing power is growing rapidly. Although currently China’s data center electricity consumption accounts for a small proportion of total social electricity use and remains within the support capacity of the power system in the short term, the share of electricity used for computing continues to increase, showing a rapid growth trend. On the policy front, green electricity is expected to expand its capacity to meet computing power demand. With the booming OpenClaw project, demand for AI Agents is expected to explode, and the surge in token numbers may further boost computing power demand, thereby increasing electricity consumption.

Supply Side: Internal Consumption Issues in China’s Green Electricity, Computing Power Construction Expected to Absorb

Although the proportion of renewable energy generation continues to rise, the fundamental mechanisms of power dispatch and operation have not changed significantly. Grid regulation and safety margins are decreasing, and absorption conflicts are becoming more severe. The rapid growth of renewable energy installations has led to localized absorption problems. As a flexible load factor, computing power is expected to enhance the autonomous absorption of renewable energy. Additionally, policies like “East Data West Computing” support “Western electricity for Western use,” guiding industry migration westward. With advances in smart grid technology and AI, solutions to grid connection issues are expected to form an industrial closed loop, strongly supporting the development goals of a technologically powerful nation.

Investment Recommendations

Beneficiary Targets:

Power: Jinkai New Energy, Yunnan Energy Holdings, GCL New Energy, Sifang Co., Fuling Power, Southern Grid Technology, State Grid South China, State Grid Information & Communication, Guodian Nanjing, Yuanguang Software

Computing Power: UCloud, Qingyun Technology, Capital Online, Southern Grid Digital, DataPort, Aofei Data

Risk Warning: Systemic market risks, policies on technological innovation falling short of expectations, sudden US-China geopolitical events.

(Source: First Financial)