According to market sources, NVIDIA will hold a private, closed-door summit at its headquarters in Santa Clara, California, US, this week. The core topic of this meeting is to discuss and address the "Data center power shortage" issue that may impede the development of artificial intelligence. This summit will bring together executives from startups focusing on the fields of power and electrical engineering.
Analysts argue that this is a strong signal that energy shortages are actually affecting companies that use NVIDIA chips to build AI facilities. These companies' data centers are filled with NVIDIA's 'power-hungry' artificial intelligence server chips, and power supply constraints may 'hinder the development of artificial intelligence'.
At the beginning of this month, Morgan Stanley raised the cumulative power gap for U.S. data centers from 2025 to 2028 from 44 gigawatts to 47 gigawatts. This gap is equivalent to the electricity consumption of 9 Miami cities or 15 Philadelphia cities.
Goldman Sachs previously pointed out that AI server clusters are consuming electricity at a pace far exceeding the rate of grid expansion, and power supply is likely to become the biggest bottleneck in the AI era.
According to EIA's forecast, the power demand of data centers in 2030 will increase by more than 150% compared to 2023, with AI-driven data centers accounting for 9% of the total US power load, resulting in an installed capacity gap of 14GW. The demand for the installed capacity gap will strongly drive the power supply and grid equipment.
Meanwhile, NVIDIA previously released a white paper on the 800V power supply architecture, with the increase in single-machine energy consumption and voltage, guiding the development demand for new technologies such as 800V power supply and solid-state transformer (SST). Therefore, NVIDIA's hosting of the AI power shortage problem summit indicates a clear signal of power shortage in the US. At the same time, solid-state transformers and supporting equipment have also become highly sought-after items in the US market.
Analysts predict that SST is expected to start scaling up in H2 of the 27th year and gradually become the mainstream solution for AIDC outdoor power supplies in the 29th to 30th years, with the global SST market size expected to exceed 100 billion by 2030.
Transformer shortages are triggering a chain reaction. Over 70% of transformers in the United States have been in service for more than 25 years, with some equipment operating beyond their intended lifespan for up to 40 years, leading to a transformer gap of as high as 30% across the U.S. by 2025.
Apart from the U.S. market, European buyers' order-follow-up calls have become a daily background sound for Chinese transformer manufacturers. Data from the General Administration of Customs shows that China's transformer exports surged to 46.48 billion yuan in the first nine months of 2025, with the European market growing by a whopping 138% year-on-year. Even U.S. data centers are willing to pay a 20% premium to secure supplies. The International Energy Agency predicts that global power grid investment will exceed 600 billion U.S. dollars by 2030, and transformers, as 'intermediate stations' of electricity, are in short supply.
Faced with changes in overseas markets, the Chinese transformer industry has seized opportunities and responded quickly. Transformer 'national teams' represented by Xi'an Electric Power (XIDIAN) have acted decisively. From December 10 to 11, the 2025 Annual Members' Conference of the Transformer Branch of the China Electrical Equipment Industry Association and the Seminar on High-Quality Development of the Transformer Industry Facing the '14th Five-Year Plan' was held successfully. The conference was organized by the Transformer Branch of the China Electrical Equipment Industry Association and co-hosted by units such as Shenyang Transformer Institute under XIDIAN.
The conference attracted more than 260 enterprises in the transformer industry, with a total of over 450 participants. Zhao Yongzhi, Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman, and General Manager of Xi'an Electric Power (China West Electric), and Director of the Transformer Branch of the China Electrical Equipment Industry Association, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. He stated that with the profound transformation of the global energy system, as a 'national heavy equipment' ensuring national energy security, the transformer industry has seized the opportunity and acted in line with the trend, achieving synchronous leaps in scale and quality. The industry must adhere to innovation-driven development and break through core technologies. Focusing on the development directions of high-endization, greenification, and intelligence, it should accelerate the large-scale application of environmentally friendly products, actively integrate advanced sensors and artificial intelligence algorithms, and concentrate efforts to seize the commanding heights of industrial development. It is also necessary to broaden international vision and enhance international competitiveness. By combining 'going global' with 'bringing in', actively participating in the formulation of international standards, promoting Chinese technology, standards, and equipment to the world, and continuously improving the international voice and influence of China's transformer industry.
This conference attaches great importance to the overseas expansion of Chinese transformers and specially organized a special interview on 'Addressing New Fields, Expanding Overseas Markets, and Accelerating Industrial Layout'. Guest speakers including Shi Jian, Vice President of the Research Institute of Baoding Tianwei Baobian Electric Co., Ltd.; Zhang Xiaoyang, Chief Engineer of Shandong Electric Engineering & Equipment Co., Ltd. of Shandong Electric Engineering Group; Wang Zhongbo, Technical Director of Hainan Jinpan Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.; and Tian Wenge, Assistant General Manager of Shenyang Transformer Research Institute Co., Ltd., were invited. They conducted in-depth discussions and exchanges around various dimensions such as technological empowerment, global layout, and collaborative upgrading, focusing on the current situation of the transformer industry in the context of the energy revolution and the wave of globalization.
Recently, China XD Electric has seen a "quantitative and qualitative improvement" in its scientific and technological innovation achievements in fields such as ultra-high voltage equipment and new energy supporting equipment. In particular, the breakthroughs in solid-state transformers and the world's largest capacity flexible DC transformer mark China's transition from "following" to "leading" in the core technology field of power equipment.
As a key equipment for the new power system, XD Electric Power Electronics, a subsidiary of China XD Electric, achieved a critical leap from "R&D" to "mass production" of solid-state transformer technology in 2025, forming a product matrix covering multiple scenarios such as photovoltaics, data centers, and charging stations. Targeting the high power consumption and high space requirements of AI computing centers and data centers, XD Electric Power Electronics has launched an 800VDC architecture solid-state transformer, which can directly convert 10kV AC to 800V DC, supporting flexible expansion of racks from hundreds of kilowatts to 1 megawatt. Currently, the 2.4MW solid-state transformer has been put into operation in the "East Data West Computing" data center, and the 2MW data center/charging station solid-state transformer has completed third-party testing by the State Grid Corporation of China's High Voltage Research Institute and is about to enter mass production.
The SFL series 35 kV new energy transformers independently developed by Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock Co., Ltd. have also successfully obtained the EU CE certification and the North American UL certification. Among them, the SFL-8800/33 transformer, tested by the international authoritative organization TUVAUSTRIA, has a peak energy efficiency index (PEI) of 99.615%, which is superior to the requirements of the EU's highest energy efficiency level (Tier2), demonstrating excellent energy-saving performance. The SFL series transformers certified this time are mainly targeted at the supporting scenarios of new energy power generation and energy storage systems, and can meet the demand for transformers in the photovoltaic, wind power and other fields in the European and American markets.
Recently, two SFZ-63000/115 transformers independently developed by Chongqing Borui, a subsidiary of Shandong Electrician, were officially shipped to Germany. All performance indicators are superior to the customer's technical requirements, fully meeting the strict standards of the European Union. This delivery marks Chongqing Borui's first entry into the German market, signifying that the enterprise's high-end energy equipment manufacturing capabilities have gained international recognition and laying a solid foundation for in-depth development in the European market.
At the same time, Chongqing Borui's new product SSPF-150000/220 three-split transformer has recently passed the national-level appraisal. This product achieves an organic integration of power supply flexibility, operational reliability, and energy cycle utilization.
Recently, Baobian Electric has successively won orders for a total of 23 transformers, including hydropower projects in Ethiopia and new energy projects in Saudi Arabia, demonstrating the company's competitive advantage in overseas hydropower and achieving a breakthrough in the new energy market. At the Koisha Hydropower Station in Ethiopia, Baobian Electric defeated all competitors to win the order for 19 sets of 400 kV main transformers for the power station. In the Yanbu Wind Power Project in Saudi Arabia, Baobian Electric won the order for 4 sets of 110 kV transformers for the project, marking another order in the country following the中标 of the Saudi PP15 project, and realizing a new breakthrough in expanding the new energy market.
Guodian Nari is also vigorously implementing an internationalization strategy. Its self-developed distribution transformers have made their first export to the Argentine market, its Static Var Compensator (SVC) has entered the Mexican market, its distribution network operation and maintenance business has entered the Chilean market, and its low-voltage flexible DC technology has achieved a breakthrough in application in Hong Kong. International business has become a new source of efficiency growth for Guodian Nari's high-quality development.
Meanwhile, the BGH7110 vacuum interrupter recently developed by Baoguang Stock can be regarded as the "vacuum heart", which is installed in the CHVT type converter transformer on-load tap changer and officially put into operation in the Longdong-Shandong ±800kV UHV DC transmission project. It not only fills the domestic technological gap but also becomes a potential stock for the export of supporting equipment for transformers and tap changers.
Despite being 'abundant in quantity and high in quality', Chinese transformers are 'good in value' but not 'cheap in price'. According to reports, the average export price of Chinese transformers has risen from $12,000 per unit in 2020 to $20,800 per unit in 2025, with prices of high-end models doubling. Customized solutions for different scenarios have become a competitive advantage: African projects are adapted to high-temperature and high-humidity environments, European data centers are equipped with intelligent control systems, and the world's first 500 kV plant oil transformer put into operation in Guangzhou has broken the monopoly of foreign environmental protection technologies. In 2025, EDF (Electricité de France) placed a single order for 50 large Chinese transformers, accounting for one-third of its annual procurement volume.
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