State Grid safeguards power supply ahead of exams
As summer approaches, the national college entrance exam, or gaokao, is about to officially begin. To ensure a stable power supply to all exam venues and surrounding areas, and to help students take the exam with peace of mind, State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company has made early, coordinated plans and implemented all necessary preparations for the 2026 gaokao power supply safeguard. It follows the principle of "ensuring power across the entire region during the exam period, securing the surroundings before the exam, and prioritizing key facilities during the exam".
The Xi'an Yanliang district power supply branch of State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company organized the central power supply station in Yanliang district to conduct UPS charge-discharge tests at gaokao venues within its jurisdiction — scheduling the work during students' weekend breaks to avoid disruption. The tests were designed to ensure the reliability of critical electrical loads during the exam, including school bells and English listening comprehension equipment.
"The UPS units are preset to provide two hours of long-lasting backup power, which can continuously support the normal operation of critical equipment such as exam-room broadcasts, bells, listening comprehension playback, and video surveillance, meeting the emergency power supply needs of the gaokao," said a staff member, who conducted an inspection to ensure reliable power for the exam.
Ensuring power for the gaokao is a tough battle that must be won, and State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company has long since entered a state of readiness. The company prepared and issued the notice on ensuring power supply for the 2026 provincial college entrance exam well in advance, specifying 12 key tasks before the exam, another 12 during the exam and three after the exam, and convened a briefing and promotion meeting. It has, for the first time, pushed to include the configuration of emergency power sources, emergency drills, and the rectification of electrical safety hazards in the inspection guidelines for all exam venues issued by admissions offices at the provincial, municipal, and county levels, and has assigned a dedicated "one team for one venue" to each key protection point.
Additionally, the company has refined the classification of critical loads during the gaokao. UPS coverage is now complete for four categories of level-1 critical loads: video surveillance, foreign-language listening comprehension, campus broadcasting and security check gates. Meanwhile, emergency generators have been deployed for three categories of level-2 critical loads: signal jammers, lighting and air conditioning. For key protected users, three types of emergency plans have been formulated: load-switching procedures, backup generator startup, and emergency power vehicle connection. Four types of emergency drills have been carried out, covering load switching, backup generator startup, emergency power vehicle connection, and UPS charge-discharge testing — all aimed at being prepared but never having to use it.
Similar scenes have been unfolding simultaneously across the province. At Xincheng No. 2 Middle School, a gaokao venue in the new district of Hancheng city, the Weinan power supply branch of State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company made early deployments and took targeted action, organizing a professional power protection team to carry out a pre-exam special inspection of electrical safety. The team conducted a comprehensive check of core power facilities such as the campus distribution cabinets and transformers at the venue to identify and eliminate potential hazards, enhancing the reliability of the power supply and emergency response capabilities at the venue.
In Hanzhong, the Yangxian county power supply branch of State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company organized a gaokao power protection emergency drill to fully test the response speed of the venue's emergency power supply system. It also deployed five construction crews and 48 workers to carry out a special maintenance campaign on the 10-kilovolt Line 115 in Yangxian county, which is responsible for powering the exam.
State Grid Baoji Power Supply Company has set up a dedicated power protection task force to guard 27 110-kV substations and 46 10-kV power lines at designated points. In the early stages, it deployed 389 person-times of power protection personnel and 127 vehicle-times of power protection vehicles, and has comprehensively reinforced the electrical defenses of the exam venues by integrating this work with the summer peak power supply campaign.
