Data Services and EV Charging Supplied a Fifth of China's Power Demand Growth in the First Eight Months

China's electricity consumption reached 1,033.2 TWh in August, up 1.7 per cent on a year earlier, the National Energy Administration reported on 20 September. Peak load set a record of 1,560 GW, 49.69 GW above last year's maximum, and load exceeded the previous peak on seven days. Household consumption fell 4.0 per cent, which the NEA put down to more typhoons and heavy rain than in August 2025 and lower air-conditioning use.

Industry and services did the growing. High-tech and equipment manufacturing used 122.2 TWh in the month, up 7.2 per cent. Charging and battery-swap services used 17.2 TWh, up 51.2 per cent, and internet data services 10.2 TWh, up 37.9 per cent.

Over January to August, national consumption was 7,173 TWh, up 4.3 per cent. Internet data services used 69.5 TWh, up 42.5 per cent, and charging services 114.7 TWh, up 55.1 per cent. Working back from those growth rates, data services added about 20.7 TWh and charging about 40.7 TWh, together roughly 21 per cent of the 296 TWh increase in national demand. Data services are still only about 1 per cent of total consumption. Vehicle charging is adding about twice as much new load as internet data services.