1001 Smart Cities
🇨🇳 Shanghai

Shanghai's Virtual Power Plant demand response

🤖 AI-generated summary · ◆ 13 sourced claims · 🔎 Last verified

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

13 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.

How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page

✎ Corrected 27 Sep 2026 1 source added. What changed →

It began in 2019 as a trial with four aggregators and 512 customers. During the August 2025 heatwave the utility says it shifted 1.163 million kW — an operator figure, not audited.

Outcome🔄 Ongoing
Evidence🏛️ Official
what does this mean?The strongest source is the operator's or the city's own reporting — an official report, dataset or press release. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Run byState Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company
Scale🏙️ City-wide

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,216 documented projects · 🏙️ 11 more in Shanghai · 🔌 Smart grid & energy guide · ⚡ Energy projects

State Grid Shanghai aggregates data centres, building air conditioning and EV charging points into a virtual power plant it can call on when the city grid peaks. A trial launched in December 2019 with four aggregators and 512 customers. During the August 2025 heatwave, in which Shanghai set a record load of 40.55 million kW on 11 August, the utility says the virtual power plant shifted 1.163 million kW. In July 2026 it reported a larger measured response, 1.6477 million kW.

Live 📅 since 2019

📊 Impact

State Grid Shanghai reported a then-record 1.163 million kW of load shifted during the August 2025 heatwave, drawn from 47 aggregators; registered capacity reached 2.03 million kW across 49 operators, up 81% since 2024. On 16 July 2026 the utility reported a new measured response of 1.6477 million kW, and put its largest measured response for 2023 to 2026 at 0.32, 0.71, 1.16 and 1.65 million kW. Operator-reported, not independently audited.

🎓 Lesson

A virtual power plant does not make power; it persuades load to go away, and the unit that measures that is easy to lose. Shanghai's August 2025 record was 1.163 million kilowatts of load adjustment — a rate, not a quantity of energy — and the trade press reported the same event as 1.163 million kilowatt-hours, which is a different measure of a different thing. The second number worth keeping apart is registered capacity: 2.03 million kW is what 49 operators have signed up, while 1.163 million kW is what 47 of them delivered during a record heatwave. What a demand-response scheme has on paper and what it produces on the day are two figures, and only the second one keeps the lights on.

⚡ EnergySmart grid & energyEV & chargingSensors & IoT

Sources

↗ China News Service — Shanghai conducts first million-kilowatt virtual power plant operation (15 Aug 2025)Carrying source for the impact figures: a record load adjustment of 1.163 million kW from 47 operators including data centres, building air conditioning and EV charging stations; registered capacity 2.03 million kW across 49 operators, up 81% since 2024. Operator-reported.
↗ China Daily — Shanghai secures power supply amid record high demand (13 Aug 2025)Corroboration of the grid peak: 40.55 million kW at 11:23 on 11 August 2025, a new historical high, with virtual power plant adjustment among the measures deployed.
↗ Yicai Global — Shanghai Is Trialing China's First Virtual Power Plant (19 Dec 2019)Source for the trial launch on 5 December 2019 with four operators and 512 customers, covering EV charging piles, industrial parks, commercial buildings and solar storage. Its 'China's first' framing is not used in this entry.
↗ Shanghai Municipal Government — Shanghai develops framework to regulate virtual power plants (27 May 2025)Governance context: Songjiang District's trial VPP management measures, effective April 2025, targeting a 100 MW demand-side peak-shaving VPP by end-2025. A district framework, not the citywide aggregation.
↗ Microgrid Knowledge — Virtual Power Reaches Global: China Claims New Aggregation Record (15 Aug 2025)Trade-press pickup of the same August 2025 event. Caution: it renders the figure as kWh; the Chinese original and China News Service report 1.163 million kilowatts of load adjustment, not kilowatt-hours.
Show 1 more sourcesShow fewer
↗ 21st Century Business Herald (reprinting The Paper) — Shanghai virtual power plant sets 1.6477 million kW measured-response record (24 Jul 2026)Reprint of a The Paper (澎湃新闻) report citing Shanghai's power authorities: a measured VPP response of 164.77 wan kW (1.6477 million kW) on the afternoon of 16 July 2026, 47 VPP operators in a further call on 23 July, and a largest measured response of 32, 71, 116 and 165 wan kW for 2023 to 2026. Operator-reported. Chinese-language.

📅 How old is the evidence?

Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 2019. 6 of 6 sources carry a publication date, from 19 December 2019 to 24 July 2026.

When the sources were published

  1. Yicai Global · pressYicai Global — Shanghai Is Trialing China's First Virtual Power Plant (19 Dec 2019)
  2. Shanghai Municipal Government · city governmentShanghai Municipal Government — Shanghai develops framework to regulate virtual power plants (27 May 2025)
  3. China Daily · pressChina Daily — Shanghai secures power supply amid record high demand (13 Aug 2025)
  4. China News Service · pressChina News Service — Shanghai conducts first million-kilowatt virtual power plant operation (15 Aug 2025)
  5. Microgrid Knowledge · pressMicrogrid Knowledge — Virtual Power Reaches Global: China Claims New Aggregation Record (15 Aug 2025)
  6. 21st Century Business Herald (21世纪经济报道) · press21st Century Business Herald (reprinting The Paper) — Shanghai virtual power plant sets 1.6477 million kW measured-response record (24 Jul 2026)

Every source, with links ↑

What happened to this record

  1. Entered the record
  2. 1 source added
  3. Sources last read

Every revision, permanent →

Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 13 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence file · public beta 13 addressable claims, 6 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The file is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 13

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-174fb793bca6b307 descriptive
State Grid Shanghai aggregates data centres, building air conditioning and EV charging points into a virtual power plant it can call on when the city grid peaks
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
China News Service names the resources drawn on in August 2025 — data centres, building air conditioning and EV charging stations; Yicai describes EV charging piles, industrial parks and commercial buildings at the 2019 trial stage.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China News Service — Shanghai conducts first million-kilowatt virtual power plant operation (15 Aug 2025)
  2. Yicai Global — Shanghai Is Trialing China's First Virtual Power Plant (19 Dec 2019)
Claim 2 clm-07bfad649e33bd31 quantitative
A trial launched in December 2019 with four aggregators and 512 customers
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Yicai Global, 19 December 2019: testing began on 5 December with four operators and 512 customers.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Yicai Global — Shanghai Is Trialing China's First Virtual Power Plant (19 Dec 2019)
Claim 3 clm-413ac78adc8206ea quantitative
in which Shanghai set a record load of 40.55 million kW on 11 August
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
China Daily, 13 August 2025: the grid reached a peak load of 40.55 million kW at 11:23 on Monday 11 August, a new historical high.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China Daily — Shanghai secures power supply amid record high demand (13 Aug 2025)
Claim 4 clm-98513c4c9fed934d quantitative
the utility says the virtual power plant shifted 1.163 million kW
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
China News Service, 15 August 2025, reports a record load adjustment of 1.163 million kW during the heatwave peak. The figure is the utility's own; the report does not name the exact hour or day of the call.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China News Service — Shanghai conducts first million-kilowatt virtual power plant operation (15 Aug 2025)
Claim 5 clm-42fcf2e001a6b480 quantitative
In July 2026 it reported a larger measured response, 1.6477 million kW
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The Paper's report of 24 July 2026, as reprinted by 21st Century Business Herald, gives a measured response of 164.77 wan kW (1.6477 million kW) this summer, reached on the afternoon of 16 July, citing Shanghai's power authorities.
Caveat
Operator-reported; no independent measurement has been published.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. 21st Century Business Herald (reprinting The Paper) — Shanghai virtual power plant sets 1.6477 million kW measured-response record (24 Jul 2026)
Claim 6 clm-cf9e99fbab7a975e quantitative
State Grid Shanghai reported a then-record 1.163 million kW of load shifted during the August 2025 heatwave, drawn from 47 aggregators
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
China News Service attributes the 1.163 million kW adjustment to resources from 47 operators, described as the highest ever recorded in Shanghai at the time.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China News Service — Shanghai conducts first million-kilowatt virtual power plant operation (15 Aug 2025)
Claim 7 clm-5cd0aab803cda8c6 quantitative
registered capacity reached 2.03 million kW across 49 operators, up 81% since 2024
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The same report: registered VPP capacity grew 81% since 2024 to 2.03 million kilowatts across 49 operators.
Caveat
Registered capacity is what operators have signed up, not what answered the call.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China News Service — Shanghai conducts first million-kilowatt virtual power plant operation (15 Aug 2025)
Claim 8 clm-72437cfc556c832f quantitative
On 16 July 2026 the utility reported a new measured response of 1.6477 million kW
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The report states that on 16 July 2026 State Grid Shanghai launched a citywide VPP response ahead of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference and that the response load reached 164.77 wan kW that afternoon.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. 21st Century Business Herald (reprinting The Paper) — Shanghai virtual power plant sets 1.6477 million kW measured-response record (24 Jul 2026)
Claim 9 clm-05f6300ef607f697 quantitative
put its largest measured response for 2023 to 2026 at 0.32, 0.71, 1.16 and 1.65 million kW
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The report lists the city's maximum measured VPP call for the four years since 2023 as 32, 71, 116 and 165 wan kW — 0.32, 0.71, 1.16 and 1.65 million kW.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. 21st Century Business Herald (reprinting The Paper) — Shanghai virtual power plant sets 1.6477 million kW measured-response record (24 Jul 2026)
Claim 10 clm-77a0591f42820548 descriptive
Operator-reported, not independently audited
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
All three carrying reports attribute every figure to State Grid Shanghai or Shanghai's power authorities; none names a regulator, market operator or auditor that checked the adjustment.
Caveat
A statement about what the sourcing does not contain, not a finding about the scheme.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China News Service — Shanghai conducts first million-kilowatt virtual power plant operation (15 Aug 2025)
  2. China Daily — Shanghai secures power supply amid record high demand (13 Aug 2025)
  3. 21st Century Business Herald (reprinting The Paper) — Shanghai virtual power plant sets 1.6477 million kW measured-response record (24 Jul 2026)
Claim 11 clm-c3dec9eb0cce68d7 quantitative
Shanghai's August 2025 record was 1.163 million kilowatts of load adjustment
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
China News Service reports the August 2025 adjustment in kilowatts, a unit of power.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China News Service — Shanghai conducts first million-kilowatt virtual power plant operation (15 Aug 2025)
Claim 12 clm-c83bc88f6aae39d8 quantitative
the trade press reported the same event as 1.163 million kilowatt-hours, which is a different measure of a different thing
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Microgrid Knowledge, 15 August 2025, writes that the demand response 'achieved 1.163 million kWH of load adjustment'; China News Service, which Microgrid Knowledge names as its source, reports kilowatts.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Microgrid Knowledge — Virtual Power Reaches Global: China Claims New Aggregation Record (15 Aug 2025)
Claim 13 clm-1a8c3f073380c04c quantitative
2.03 million kW is what 49 operators have signed up, while 1.163 million kW is what 47 of them delivered during a record heatwave
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
China News Service gives both figures side by side: 2.03 million kW registered across 49 operators, and 1.163 million kW adjusted from 47 operators during record-high temperatures.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China News Service — Shanghai conducts first million-kilowatt virtual power plant operation (15 Aug 2025)
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-09-27-popular-uplift-2 effective 2026-09-27 · created 2026-09-27

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:c127c88827f35f743a8cda8056940cf0d3fb32cb06f4f3b69b2475a39e62ede2
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
13
of 13 claims mapped
6
source dossiers
6
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company
Actor types
utility
Funding model
utility
Funding description
Not recorded
Cost
Not recorded
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

6 source dossiers

China News Service — Shanghai conducts first million-kilowatt virtual power plant operation (15 Aug 2025) ecns.cn · 7 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-f5e13d30bdd1f58c
Publisher
Name not classified · ecns.cn
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-08-15
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Carrying source for the impact figures: a record load adjustment of 1.163 million kW from 47 operators including data centres, building air conditioning and EV charging stations; registered capacity 2.03 million kW across 49 operators, up 81% since 2024. Operator-reported.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
China Daily — Shanghai secures power supply amid record high demand (13 Aug 2025) global.chinadaily.com.cn · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-2bdee5292126cd16
Publisher
Name not classified · global.chinadaily.com.cn
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-08-13
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Corroboration of the grid peak: 40.55 million kW at 11:23 on 11 August 2025, a new historical high, with virtual power plant adjustment among the measures deployed.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Yicai Global — Shanghai Is Trialing China's First Virtual Power Plant (19 Dec 2019) yicaiglobal.com · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-0aaf093f6246f45a
Publisher
Name not classified · yicaiglobal.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2019-12-19
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Source for the trial launch on 5 December 2019 with four operators and 512 customers, covering EV charging piles, industrial parks, commercial buildings and solar storage. Its 'China's first' framing is not used in this entry.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Shanghai Municipal Government — Shanghai develops framework to regulate virtual power plants (27 May 2025) english.shanghai.gov.cn · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-0cf82f3650468103
Publisher
Name not classified · english.shanghai.gov.cn
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-05-27
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Governance context: Songjiang District's trial VPP management measures, effective April 2025, targeting a 100 MW demand-side peak-shaving VPP by end-2025. A district framework, not the citywide aggregation.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Microgrid Knowledge — Virtual Power Reaches Global: China Claims New Aggregation Record (15 Aug 2025) microgridknowledge.com · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-2cdab8e21e9a42d5
Publisher
Name not classified · microgridknowledge.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-08-15
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Trade-press pickup of the same August 2025 event. Caution: it renders the figure as kWh; the Chinese original and China News Service report 1.163 million kilowatts of load adjustment, not kilowatt-hours.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
21st Century Business Herald (reprinting The Paper) — Shanghai virtual power plant sets 1.6477 million kW measured-response record (24 Jul 2026) 21jingji.com · 4 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-99503fc4a4b22a07
Publisher
Name not classified · 21jingji.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-07-24
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Reprint of a The Paper (澎湃新闻) report citing Shanghai's power authorities: a measured VPP response of 164.77 wan kW (1.6477 million kW) on the afternoon of 16 July 2026, 47 VPP operators in a further call on 23 July, and a largest measured response of 32, 71, 116 and 165 wan kW for 2023 to 2026. Operator-reported. Chinese-language.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Known limits of this file
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.

Continue exploring

Compare this project

🇳🇱 Johan Cruijff ArenA Battery Storage & Vehicle-to-Grid Pilot · Amsterdam Two ways to shave a peak: Amsterdam's arena stores power in 148 reused EV batteries; Shanghai leans on data centres, AC and chargers. 🇩🇰 AI-Driven Demand Response for Copenhagen's District Heating · Copenhagen Demand-side flexibility in two energies: Copenhagen shifts when buildings draw heat; Shanghai shifts when they draw power. 🇨🇳 Shanghai New Energy Vehicle Data Monitoring Centre · Shanghai Shanghai's EVs seen two ways: the data centre watches each car's battery; the virtual power plant counts chargers as grid capacity.

Explore the wider context

📟 A Reading Is Not a Decision📖 District heating📖 Prepaid metering📖 SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition)
📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Shanghai's Virtual Power Plant demand response” — Shanghai, China. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/shanghai-virtual-power-plant/ (last verified 2026-09-27). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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