During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Nanjing's smart grid industry achieved an average annual growth rate exceeding 20%. Last year, the industry's scale surpassed 500 billion yuan. A clear trend indicates that following the software and information services industry, Nanjing is poised to cultivate its next trillion-yuan industrial cluster.

Recently, Nanjing convened a special symposium on the smart grid industry, highlighting that as China advances the construction of a new power system during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, grid investment is expected to experience leapfrog growth. The smart grid sector is entering a phase of expansive development opportunities, with Nanjing setting its sights on elevating smart grid into a trillion-yuan industry.

**01 Comprehensive Chain Covering All Critical Links** The explosive growth of artificial intelligence has driven exponential increases in computing power demand, creating significant electricity supply gaps. Coupled with the global energy transition, the accelerated development of new power systems has ushered in substantial growth opportunities for the smart grid industry.

China's National Energy Administration's "New Power System Development Blueprint" mandates the basic completion of a new power system by 2030, directly boosting the proportion of intelligent investment in power systems. The industry's rapid upward trajectory provides the foundation for Nanjing's confidence in targeting it as the next trillion-yuan industry.

Nanjing has established an industrial system centered on the "grid side," achieving comprehensive coverage across generation, grid, load, and storage segments. It ranks among China's regions with the most complete industrial ecosystem for smart grids. From R&D design to manufacturing, and from core components to end products, leading enterprises provide strong leadership while upstream and downstream companies maintain close coordination, creating a resilient and dynamic industrial chain that forms Nanjing's core competitiveness.

In July last year, during a routine industrial matchmaking event in Jiangning Development Zone, China Electric Transformer Co., Ltd. expressed demand for oriented silicon steel sheets. Nanjing Yiyuan Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd., a production-oriented service enterprise in the park, immediately responded, leading to rapid cooperation. Nearly 30 million yuan worth of direct material supply was completed in the second half of last year, with projected cooperation volume exceeding 100 million yuan this year.

The completeness of the industrial chain makes such proximity between upstream and downstream enterprises commonplace. This "full-chain control" capability provides Nanjing with stability against global supply chain fluctuations and a competitive advantage. This capability stems from the leadership and influence of major enterprises.

As one of the industry's chain leaders, NARI Group possesses strong capabilities with its smart grid business covering all power segments and internationally leading core technologies. Simultaneously, NARI Group acts as a magnet, continuously attracting upstream and downstream enterprises to cluster and develop.

Centered around NARI, particularly in core product areas such as UHV converter valves, DC control protection systems, and power information communication, Nanjing has gathered supporting enterprises engaged in power equipment, software development, and system integration, forming an industrial ecology characterized by "leadership by majors, division of labor, and collaborative development." The localization rate of NARI Group's related components and integrated software products exceeds 85%, reducing customized product delivery cycles by over 30%.

Currently, Nanjing's smart grid industry has formed a cohort of chain-leading enterprises represented by NARI Group and Guodian Nanjing Automation Co., Ltd., including one China Top 500 Manufacturing Enterprise and over ten champion enterprises in specific segments. The cluster comprises more than 900 large-scale enterprises, with the full industrial chain advantage becoming increasingly prominent, laying a solid foundation for scaling towards a trillion-yuan industry.

**02 Technological Prowess with Leading Market Share** The recent completion of China's first integrated offshore hydrogen-ammonia-methanol project, "Research and Demonstration of Key Technologies for the Whole Chain of Offshore Hydrogen Production-Storage-Transportation-Utilization," saw Nanjing-based Konyuan Wisdom providing source-grid-load-storage scheduling control protection systems and hydrogen-ammonia-methanol control systems, leveraging its expertise in microgrids.

Industrial competition ultimately hinges on technological competition. "Strong core technology" is the most distinctive feature of Nanjing's smart grid industry development map.

Guodian Nanjing Automation's independently developed and controllable generator-transformer protection system was commissioned at the Qinshan Nuclear Power Base, marking the first application of fully domestic, independently controllable generator-transformer protection in the nuclear power sector, achieving component-level independence and controllability for nuclear power unit protection.

A proposal on "Grid-Forming Energy Storage Systems in High-Voltage AC Systems" led by NARI was approved by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), leading to the establishment of a formal working group, accelerating international standardization efforts.

From breaking foreign technology monopolies to achieving independent controllability, and from leading industry standard setting to driving technological iteration, Nanjing's smart grid enterprises are continuously expanding their presence and dominance in domestic and global markets through robust core technologies.

Data shows that Nanjing's smart grid products hold significant competitive advantages, with provincial-level grid dispatch automation systems and equipment holding over 90% domestic market share, and high-voltage relay protection equipment holding over 80% domestic market share.

The emergence of cutting-edge technologies is supported by deep integration of industry, academia, and research. Every enterprise interviewed collaborates with universities on technological challenges, fully utilizing Nanjing's rich educational and scientific resources. The city hosts 25 universities and research institutions with power-related disciplines, providing ample talent support for industrial development.

Currently, the city's smart grid industry boasts a talent pool led by Chinese Academy of Engineering academicians, supported by renowned universities, and comprising tens of thousands of R&D personnel. Nanjing has also established a Smart Grid Industry Alliance involving leading enterprises, research institutes, and financial institutions to collaboratively advance technology R&D.

**03 Diverse Applications Extending Beyond Traditional Power** The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's "National Industrial Sector Power Demand-Side Management Typical Cases" included Jiangning Development Zone's Energy-Carbon Virtual Power Plant.

Visiting this "power plant" reveals no cooling towers, combustion equipment, or loud noises, resembling a high-tech laboratory. A large green, low-carbon smart energy cloud platform display shows real-time updates on the development zone's power generation capacity, adjustable capacity, green electricity usage ratio, and carbon emissions.

Behind the screen, the virtual power plant's "smart brain" performs real-time monitoring and dispatch. Reports indicate a 100% local consumption rate for distributed power sources within the zone, with every unit of self-produced green electricity efficiently utilized.

Virtual power plants represent a typical application scenario for smart grid technology. Smart grids integrate modern IT, communication, control, and power system technologies, possessing capabilities for perception, prediction, and flexible regulation, reshaping energy flow patterns to achieve real-time balance and optimization of generation, transmission, and consumption.

According to Chinese Academy of Engineering academician Guo Jianbo, with the rapid development of AI technologies like deep learning, digitally empowering the power sector to achieve informatization, digitalization, and intellectualization of the grid is an inevitable trend for future new power system development.

Following this major trend, the smart grid industry is increasingly expanding beyond traditional power sectors, deeply integrating into diverse scenarios such as artificial intelligence, smart cities, and rural revitalization, unleashing boundless vitality.

As AI's "appetite" for electricity grows, the concept of computing-power coordination is gaining traction. State Grid Electric Power Research Institute has developed mature technical layouts and system solutions for computing-power coordination needs—intervening comprehensively from power supply, cooling, and scheduling to enable computing centers with active coordination and flexible adjustment capabilities.

At a charging station near Nanhu Metro Station, users may not realize that 80% of the electricity charging their vehicles comes from solar panels overhead, thanks to smart grid technology. As Nanjing's first integrated smart charging station combining photovoltaic, energy storage, charging, battery detection, and V2G (vehicle-to-grid) technology, the station is equipped with 219 high-efficiency photovoltaic panels, generating approximately 120,000 kWh annually, meeting 80% of the station's annual electricity demand.

Here, users can not only charge their vehicles but also, through V2G technology, turn parked electric vehicles into mobile energy storage units, enabling bidirectional energy interaction with the grid. This provides additional income for vehicle owners while offering flexible regulation resources for the grid.

Rich and diverse application scenarios fuel the imagination for the future of the smart grid industry. On April 7, the "Nanjing Municipal National Economic and Social Development 15th Five-Year Plan Outline" was officially released, explicitly proposing that the city's smart grid industry scale surpass 1 trillion yuan by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

The municipal smart grid industry symposium also outlined a clear development strategy—Nanjing will simultaneously drive efforts from the enterprise, supply, application, and ecosystem ends, vigorously promoting the clustered development of the smart grid industry. This includes building a more resilient industrial system, strengthening breakthroughs in key core technologies, expanding more diverse application scenarios, while focusing on enhancing talent recruitment and cultivation, establishing special funds, strongly supporting companies' global expansion, and fostering a more dynamic development environment.

Looking ahead, leveraging advantages in the full industrial chain, robust technological strength, rich application scenarios, and solid policy support, this city, deeply knowledgeable about electricity, is poised to maintain its leading position in the smart grid industry race. The current of "Nanjing Smart Manufacturing" is illuminating the path to the next trillion yuan.

Image source: Jianye Broadcast