The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) is on course to build the world’s most advanced grid by 2020. Two thousand and twelve was a banner year for the SGCC, surpassing 300 million customers, $300 billion in revenue, and 300 smart grid projects. The SGCC has allocated another $48 billion for power grid investment in 2013, which signals that they are fully determined to build and maintain a power grid that can help China also become the world’s largest economy by 2020.

Earlier this month (in March), The Communist Party in China completed its once-in-a-decade leadership transition. Since well before Xi Jinping took power last November, the smart grid community has been questioning, examining and assessing – in a feverish effort to unlock actionable insight into how this rare hand-over of power will affect China’s economic policy and what impact, if any, it may have on smart grid investments.

In sum, any slowdown in grid construction or smart grid investment plans or implementation is unlikely to occur in the short- to medium-term. One can be cautiously optimistic that the status quo, i.e. high levels of investment and modernization of the grid, will likely continue for the next two to five years at least, and possibly even speed up due to Mr. Xi’s strong belief in reform and his political and negotiating skill in building consensus.

SGCC 2012 Year End Highlights

• 353 charging stations and 14,703 charge points installed.
• 309 million customers.
• 3,254 TWh of electricity sales.
• 118.4 TWh of electricity sales from renewables.
• $302 billion in revenue ($10.4 billion net profit).
• $48.9 billion invested in power grid construction.
• 120 million smart meters installed.
• 303 smart grid projects/pilots underway.

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