OIES – The China Data Centre Advantage: Hype Versus Reality

This report analyzes China's energy sector in relation to the data centre industry, examining whether China's abundant and cheap energy provides a real competitive advantage for data centres.

It finds that while data centre energy demand is growing rapidly, it mainly displaces demand in other sectors and faces no national electricity supply barriers. The report highlights that data centres rely on abundant grid power rather than driving new baseload generation, with renewable energy mandates hindered by market inflexibility. The 'East Data West Computing' project has limited impact due to high costs and lack of incentives, offsetting China's electricity supply advantages with institutional and market inefficiencies.