National Computing Hub Green Electricity Ratio No Lower Than 80%, Green Power Sector Welcomes Dual Recovery in Performance and Valuation

What is the connection between green energy valuation recovery in the AI and data center sectors and the demand for computing power?

According to Caixin, recently, the government explicitly required that new data centers at national computing hub nodes must have a green energy share of no less than 80%. This mandatory target not only creates significant new consumption scenarios for green energy but also accelerates the implementation of new business models such as “direct green energy connection,” “source-network-load-storage integration,” and others.

It is expected that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, computing power will become another major electricity consumer after steel and electrolytic aluminum, with an annual increase in electricity demand of about 60 to 100 billion kWh, equivalent to adding the electricity consumption of a Sichuan province each year.

Estimates suggest that from 2024 to 2030, the annual compound growth rate of data center electricity consumption will be about 20% to 25%, far exceeding the 4% to 6% average growth rate of total social electricity consumption during the same period.

To achieve “green collaboration between computing and electricity,” the main strategies include locating computing power infrastructure near energy sources, improving renewable energy utilization, promoting green electricity and green certificate trading, adopting advanced technologies such as energy storage and microgrids, and building integrated energy and computing power coordination systems. These efforts aim to develop more efficient, reliable, and sustainable energy use for computing infrastructure, which is key to supporting the green development of computing power.

In recent years, data centers have gradually migrated to the wind and solar resource-rich western regions, significantly increasing stable and concentrated loads in provinces like Ningxia, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, and Guizhou, leading to a marked increase in green energy consumption.

Looking ahead, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) pointed out that with the deployment of more powerful computing chips and the large-scale development of AI clusters, China’s data center electricity demand could reach up to 700 billion kWh by 2030, accounting for about 5.3% of total social electricity consumption. The “East Data, West Computation” project promotes coordinated planning of new energy bases and computing facilities, with wind and solar resources from the west transported via ultra-high-voltage lines to eastern computing hubs, forming a cross-regional collaboration of “green energy + computing power,” further expanding green energy consumption space.

Specifically, in the A-share market, as of March 2026, the green energy sector valuation remains relatively low. With policy support driving explosive growth in green energy demand for computing power and data centers, the sector is expected to see both performance and valuation improvements. Investors may focus on leading companies with resource reserves, technological advantages, and industry synergy capabilities. (Everbright Securities Micro News)