Global Rush to Purchase Chinese Transformers! Factory Orders Already Booked Until 2027

Recently, transformer manufacturers in many parts of China have been operating at full capacity, with overseas orders continuously overflowing. Some companies have production schedules booked until 2027. Once an obscure electrical equipment—transformers—why have they now become a hot commodity in the global market?

Overseas demand has exploded, with manufacturers operating at full capacity

In a transformer factory in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, workers are rushing to fulfill overseas orders. By 2026, the company’s backlog of orders has approached 700 million yuan, with exports exceeding 600 million yuan, accounting for over 90%.

A company official stated that overseas demand is experiencing explosive growth. They will continue expanding their overseas market coverage, advancing research and industrialization of high-voltage products above 500 kV, and using technological leadership to capture the high-end market.

In a manufacturing workshop of a technology company in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, automated equipment is running at high speed. The company specializes in transformers and high- and low-voltage complete sets, with products sold to Africa, the Americas, and other regions. To keep up with order growth, they are expanding production capacity.

The company leader explained that to deliver overseas orders on time, all production lines are operating at full capacity. In December last year, they secured over 90 million yuan in overseas orders, and in the first quarter of this year, they added several transformer orders from North America and Africa.

In a 5G digital intelligent workshop of an electrical company in Pingdingshan, Henan Province, precision components are being produced rapidly. Since the beginning of this year, more than 30 transformers are shipped daily to markets in Russia, Vietnam, Mexico, and other countries. The company’s leader said that compared to January 2025, order volume in January 2026 increased by 60%. Production has been scheduled through June, and export business has achieved leapfrog growth, covering more than 90 countries and regions worldwide.

Artificial intelligence development drives electricity demand

Why has the global surge in orders for electrical equipment like transformers suddenly emerged? The answer lies in the huge electricity demand driven by the development of artificial intelligence.

Data shows that the power consumption of a super-large AI data center exceeds 1 gigawatt (1 gigawatt equals 1 billion watts), comparable to the peak summer load of a medium-sized city. Moreover, AI large models are accelerating from the “training” phase to the “inference” phase, meaning their electricity consumption is shifting from one-time investment to continuous consumption.

Ding Zhaohui, a professor at North China Electric Power University’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, explained, “In the past, training a model was a one-time process. Now, various industries are using large models, so electricity consumption naturally increases. The energy consumption during the ‘inference’ phase of large models is becoming more significant, and AI data centers’ demand for electricity is also rising.”

Why are surging overseas orders concentrated in China?

Data shows that there are about 3,000 transformer companies in China. By 2025, the total export value of transformers reached 64.6 billion yuan, a nearly 36% increase over 2024. China has become the world’s largest producer of transformers, with clear advantages in raw materials, costs, and production cycles.

Cai Yiqing, Secretary-General of the Power Equipment Branch of the China Electricity Council, said that China has established the most complete transformer manufacturing system in the world, with a fully controllable industrial chain, and about 60% of global capacity.

This system advantage is laying a solid foundation for China’s AI development.

Ding Zhaohui also noted that recently, China’s large model invocation volume has surpassed that of the United States, which is closely related to some recent models released in China, including innovations in computing power and business models.

“Our API (computing power service interface) pricing is very competitive compared to US models, making our solutions highly cost-effective in some scenarios. These innovations, combined with our electricity advantages, can truly turn our energy and power benefits into more tangible advantages for the AI industry, especially by using our clean electricity to support sustainable and green development of China’s AI industry.”

This year, the government work report for the first time proposed “building a new form of intelligent economy,” incorporating “large-scale intelligent computing clusters, computing and power collaboration, and other new infrastructure projects” into top-level design. This means that the concept of computing-power and electricity collaboration has been upgraded from a technical idea to a national strategy, with the “dual drive” of AI and electricity officially accelerating.

Wu Liqiang, Assistant Director of the Statistics and Digital Intelligence Department of the China Electricity Council, said that through “source-grid-load-storage” integration, computing-power and electricity collaboration can directly utilize Western green electricity, reducing electricity costs. Compared to the US, China has the world’s most complete ultra-high-voltage power grid and green energy resources. Computing-power and electricity collaboration can transform the “wind and solar” power from the West into “computing and intelligence” in the East, forming a closed loop of “East Data West Computing,” which is key to China maintaining a cost advantage in the AI era.