Q1 Southern Power Grid's West-to-East power transmission volume hits a record high | Hot Finance

On April 2, a reporter learned from State Grid China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd. that in the first quarter of 2026, the cumulative electricity transmitted from the western grid to the east across the southern grid’s west-to-east power transfer program reached 41.5 billion kilowatt-hours, which was 4.7 billion kilowatt-hours more than planned, up 13.3% year over year, setting a new record for the same period in history. Of this, the share of electricity generated from non-fossil energy sources reached 81%, equivalent to saving 9.7 million tons of standard coal and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by about 26 million tons, injecting strong green impetus into achieving a “good start” for annual economic development.

At the beginning of this year, the hydropower storage capacity across the Southern Power Grid system was at its best level for the same period in history. Combined with overall better inflows than last year across the four major river basins (Hongshui River, Wu River, Lancang River, and Jinsha River), the hydropower generation across the entire grid in the first quarter increased 22.6% year over year. Based on the latest data from major power-exporting provinces, in the first quarter of this year, in Yunnan, wind power generation was 12.82 billion kilowatt-hours, basically flat year over year, while photovoltaic generation was 15.75 billion kilowatt-hours, up 38% year over year. In Guizhou, wind power generation was 3.95 billion kilowatt-hours, up 40% year over year, while photovoltaic generation was 4.77 billion kilowatt-hours, up 59% year over year. The significant increase in power generation from new energy in the western region has provided ample “supplies” for power transmission to the east.

Meanwhile, in the eastern region, provinces and major power-consuming areas such as Guangdong, industrial production has rebounded and improved, creating strong market pull. In the first quarter, electricity consumption in five southern provincial-level regions showed a rapid growth trend. In the first quarter, the entire-grid system’s electricity generated and received totaled 372.68 billion kilowatt-hours, up 6.2% year over year. Among them, Guangdong and Hainan are seeing especially strong momentum in electricity demand growth, with year-over-year increases of 7.8% and 10.9%, respectively.

With both supply and demand strong, State Grid China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd. has fully leveraged the role of resource optimization and allocation in a unified large market, using market-oriented approaches to ensure supply and promote consumption. It also fully tapped the potential of transmission corridors. According to the latest data released by the National Energy Administration, in the first two months of this year, within the Southern Power Grid region, power trading centers cumulatively organized and completed market transactions totaling 182.5 billion kilowatt-hours, up 16.9% year over year. During this year’s Spring Festival, west-to-east power transmission electricity completed 2.97 billion kilowatt-hours, up 26% year over year, including an increase of 0.3 billion kilowatt-hours in spot power.

Looking back at the development history of west-to-east power transmission, in its first year in 1993, the amount of electricity transmitted was only 0.55 billion kilowatt-hours. By 2025, annual transmitted electricity had already exceeded 260 billion kilowatt-hours. From the first 100 billion kilowatt-hours to surpassing cumulative 3,000 billion kilowatt-hours, the growth curve has drawn a sweeping picture of coordinated regional development in China and the transformation of its energy structure.

Industry experts analyze that the strong growth in west-to-east transmitted electricity is a sensitive signal for observing the trend of macroeconomic operations, strongly confirming the trend toward economic recovery and improved conditions. It not only effectively alleviates the pressure of supply assurance in eastern regions, but also provides a key pathway for western provinces and regions to convert their resource advantages into economic advantages.

By / Reporter Dong Pengcheng Correspondent Gao Liang Chen Yunting Zhang Qiang Zhang Fuchuan Zhang Qiang