State Grid battles summer heat to keep power on in Shaanxi

During the 2026 summer peak season, facing multiple challenges including high temperatures, extreme weather and pressure to guarantee power for residents, State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company deployed plans ahead of time.

The company worked full tilt to secure grid safety, reliable power supply and quality service. It won a tough battle, delivering power guarantees for high-quality economic and social development in Shaanxi region.

Multiple measures

"Today's temperature is nearly 40 C. High humidity inside cable tunnels can push the heat index above 50 C," said Li Jinlong, a line inspector from the State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company Xi'an North Power Supply Company, on the morning of July 9.

Wearing a hard hat, long-sleeve cotton work uniform and insulated boots, he was inspecting cable tunnels. As temperatures climbed, tunnel inspections became routine. Each team checked four to five tunnels daily on average to keep 10-kilovolt cables running smoothly.

Meanwhile, the utility adopted measures such as sectionalized power delivery, 10-kV grid reconfiguration and mobile generator interconnection to meet local power demand.

On that day, extreme heat blanketed Shaanxi. The provincial grid's peak load hit 46.21 million kilowatts, an all-time high, up 2.89 percent from the record of 44.91 million kW. On July 10, load rose to 46.72 million kW, an increase of 1.1 percent compared to the previous day.

Amid surging loads, State Grid Shaanxi ordered all branches to activate early warnings and joint assessment protocols. It maintained close contact with local weather and emergency management agencies, continuously analyzed heat effects on the grid, equipment, power delivery and field crews and coordinated hazard removal, disaster prevention, grid security and power assurance.

To support summer peak supply and manage sharp load spikes, State Grid Shaanxi pushed forward key projects. It put 80 summer reliability projects online on schedule, including the 750 kV Northern Shaanxi-Guanzhong Third Transmission Corridor, adding 3.485 million kW to the province's power capacity.

The company tightened grid operational controls and the monitoring of power flow, load rates and key node voltages, lifting dynamic balancing capacity by 820,000 kW while guiding thermal units to ramp up and follow.

While meeting local demand, State Grid Shaanxi ran careful calculations for renewable energy and systemwide balancing, optimizing power trading strategies. Its four outbound HVDC lines operated at full capacity to send surplus power out and support national power security.

Prioritizing residents

Sustained heat drove fast growth in cooling load, which reached 17 million kW across the province, accounting for 36.4 percent of total demand.

State Grid Shaanxi made residential power security a priority. It upgraded power facilities for 357 indirectly supplied residential communities, 64 senior care facilities and 114 high-rise neighborhoods. It also completed 132 low-voltage service drop retrofits and 54 neighborhood low-voltage reinforcement projects.

Emergency generator trucks, repair crews and disaster supplies were positioned and ready for rapid response.

"After the line upgrade, our power stays steady. We no longer worry about outages disrupting the seniors' nighttime rest, oxygen use or medication. We feel much safer," said Ren Weifeng, director of a nursing home in Yan'an on Aug 17. Completion of the final external supporting circuit that day marked the first project under State Grid Yan'an Power Supply Company's second batch of senior care facility upgrades. New power lines delivered stable electricity for 76 residents.

To boost local reliability and uphold summer grid safety standards, Daxing central substation of State Grid Xi'an Power Supply Company carried out upgrades on the 10 kV public lines, covering wire installation, hardware tightening and new distribution transformer deployment. Once energized, the new transformers eased the strain on the original zone, reliably serving 20 dedicated transformers and more than 2,000 households during heat waves.

In addition, State Grid Shaanxi kept close watch on power services in mountain areas and villages. It strengthened the supply security for urban lifeline infrastructure including transportation, communications, water and gas systems and other residential customers.

The company notified major users in advance to prepare for heat and confirm backup generators were functional. It implemented customized supply safeguards for high-risk industrial sites, hospitals, water plants and gas facilities. Teams created 812 one-site, one-plan power assurance project for key customers and 8,192 diagram-schedule-plan packages for generator truck hookups at residential communities.

Flood response

From Aug 4 to 7, Shangluo saw continuous thunderstorms and heavy rain. Downpours damaged power assets in parts of Zhen'an, Zhashui, Shanyang and Shangzhou districts. State Grid Shangluo Power Supply Company assessed damage and customer outages, deployed crews and supplies and rushed to restore power.

In Huanglong county, Yan'an, swollen rivers wrecked power equipment. The staff members of Baimatan Substation of State Grid Huanglong Power Supply Company isolated fault sections, restored main feeders, scheduled repairs and brought in mobile generators to supply branch-line customers temporarily. After the rain, muddy mountain roads limited access. Repair crews carried supplies on foot, trekking to remote line segments to inspect every pole and circuit, clear debris and fix faults.

As the floods unfolded, State Grid Ankang Power Supply Company set up an emergency command post in Xunyang city. It allocated repair resources, deployed mobile generators to neighborhoods and maintained round-the-clock temporary power for priority zones and residents. Meanwhile, patrol teams crossed mountains and rivers to locate faults ahead of repairs.

Party members led teams at disaster sites, workers trekked through rising waters with tools to reach failure points, and safety supervisors oversaw field work to enforce construction safety rules.

This summer, Shaanxi endured 13 heavy rainstorms, with extreme rainfall hitting parts of Xi'an, Yan'an, Weinan, Ankang and Shangluo. State Grid Shaanxi inspected and fixed flood hazards ahead of storms, reinforced patrols at flood-prone sites including substations, transmission lines and underground distribution rooms, and boosted government-utility coordination for agile organization and fast emergency response. It also prioritized customer service, dispatching 462 mobile generator deployments provincewide to serve critical and residential users. The utility mobilized 5,249 repair personnel, 1,700 service vehicles and 36 drones for fast restoration.

Innovative methods

Xi'an Zhuque 330 kV Substation, China's first semi-underground substation built alongside heritage exhibits, adopted a working framework of "archaeological survey first" framework. Staff members working there preserved relics of Yongle Ward and Jing'an Ward from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), including ancient wheel ruts and ward wall remains. At summer peak hours, it can relieve 50,000 kW of local load.

This unattended substation relies on smart monitoring devices. Drones run autonomous full-coverage aerial inspections, paired with manual checks to form a comprehensive patrol network and speed up fault detection in hot weather.

Zhang Na, lead operator at Xi'an 330 kV Nanjiao Substation operations and maintenance team, said: "We combine smart patrols and joint human-drone inspections. A robust bulk transmission backbone plus digital monitoring keeps residents cool all summer."

"Master Yu, it's extremely hot today with harsh sun. Pace your work, and come down immediately if you feel unwell," a lead supervisor called out at a live-line defect repair site run by State Grid Fengxi Power Supply Company in Xixian New Area on July 9. The supervisor tracked high-voltage work in real time.

To secure reliable power for homes and businesses, Fengxi Power Supply launched summer inspections of lines and equipment. Crews used drone aerial surveys and infrared thermography for detailed distribution grid checks, building a three-dimensional inspection system. This setup pinpoints hidden defects such as loose connectors and invisible insulator cracks. Inspectors logged findings in maintenance records, while live-line teams surveyed sites and resolved issues without causing customer outages.

During this summer peak, State Grid Shaanxi deployed this three-dimensional inspection model for 24/7 monitoring of key transmission corridors. Refined maintenance and new working models supported the targeted replacement of aging gear and improved overall equipment health. The utility added 210 new 10 kV circuits and 2,401 new distribution transformers, with 1,599 megavolt-amperes of added capacity, lifting distribution grid reliability.

Winning this summer power supply battle is clear proof that State Grid Shaanxi is living up to its core power security duty and fulfills its social responsibilities as a central State-owned enterprise.

This major stress test yielded valuable experience and clarified future directions. Building on this summer's work, State Grid Shaanxi said it will keep upgrading the grid, improving service quality and strengthening emergency responses. It will deliver brighter, more stable power with higher standards, stronger measures and better service, contributing more to Shaanxi's high-quality development and national energy security.

Autumn grid maintenance is now underway. State Grid Shaanxi is seizing this maintenance window to ensure safe power operations and finish autumn repairs. The work lays a foundation for winter peak power support, continuing to safeguard warmth and light across Shaanxi province.