AI integration plan for energy sector

China is stepping up efforts to integrate artificial intelligence into its energy sector, leveraging cutting-edge technology to drive industrial modernization, boost operational efficiency, and secure its energy future, according to industry reports and corporate milestones.

According to an action plan recently issued by the National Energy Administration, by 2030, the clean energy supply capacity for AI computing power infrastructure in China will be significantly increased, while the application of AI in the energy sector will also be considerably improved.

It also seeks to open up high-value application scenarios for AI in the energy sector, unlock the value of energy data, and strengthen AI model innovation within the energy field, it said.

According to the NEA, in 2025, China established 42 massive-scale intelligent computing clusters, pushing the total electricity consumption of national computing centers to 170 billion kilowatt-hours.

Globally, data center power consumption is projected to nearly double by 2030 compared to 2025, highlighting the urgent need for AI-driven optimization.

While this surging electricity demand presents a formidable grid challenge, China's robust energy infrastructure and rapid expansion of renewable capacity position the country uniquely to convert this power challenge into a global competitive advantage in the AI race, said Lin Boqiang, head of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University.

"The interplay of AI and the energy sector has moved from one-way support to deep integration, becoming the core pathway for cultivating new quality productive forces and building an energy powerhouse," he said.

According to the NEA, to manage this surging demand and streamline complex industrial operations, the domestic energy sector has successfully rolled out dozens of industry-specific large AI models.

These advanced platforms cover a wide spectrum of fields, including power grids, renewables, thermal and nuclear power, coal, as well as oil and gas, it said.

Exemplifying this trend, China National Petroleum Corp announced a major breakthrough on Thursday with the latest iteration of its "Kunlun" large model. The upgraded platform marks a crucial leap from passive question-answering to "active intelligence," allowing the AI to autonomously plan, dispatch tools, analyze data, and execute tasks across the production line.

As the first large model in the domestic energy and chemical industry to achieve large-scale, full-chain application, Kunlun is now deployed across 152 scenarios.

The practical impact is already reshaping traditional operations. In addition to slashing the processing cycle for three-dimensional acoustic wave inversion from 20 days to just three, cutting costs by over 30 percent, the model also boasts a drilling risk warning system with an accuracy rate exceeding 85 percent, issuing over 300 early warnings in the past six months to prevent accidents, it said.

Such breakthroughs underscore a broader transformation across China's industrial landscape, said Lin.

By shifting from traditional manual oversight to active, AI-driven management, the country's energy sector is building a more resilient, efficient, and secure foundation to power its digital future, he said.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn