China is expected to see an annual increase of around 600 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in electricity consumption during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), an energy official said Friday.

The increase will be fueled by surging electricity demand from computing power, rapidly rising charging demand from electric vehicles, and steady growth in power use by other industries and households, Du Zhongming, an official with the National Energy Administration, told a press conference.

The expected annual increase would be equivalent to adding the annual electricity consumption of a medium-sized economy each year, Du said.