China’s drive to pair artificial intelligence with large scale renewables is moving from laboratory concept to industrial reality, and it has drawn global attention. Lei Zhang, cofounder of Shanghai based Envision Energy, has pitched AI controlled, off grid wind hubs as a model that could be exported to remote parts of Canada, according to CBC News.
Envision is now the world’s second largest wind turbine manufacturer, and Zhang described a closed loop plant on the edge of the Gobi Desert in Inner Mongolia. The facility opened in July 2025 and uses 1.4 gigawatts of wind turbines to produce net zero hydrogen and ammonium, the company said. Zhang told CBC that AI forecasting can produce two weeks of weather results in one minute and that an AI agent can dispatch energy flows and balance the grid at millisecond timescales.
The Inner Mongolia site already supplies power to several AI data centres, and Envision has discussed an 800 kilometre pipeline to move green hydrogen to population centres, CBC reported. Zhang said he had discussed the approach with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and expressed confidence the model could be replicated in Canada, adding Envision would work with local partners and regulators, as reported by CBC.
Critics warn of trade offs. Greenpeace East Asia’s Grace Gao said China runs renewables and coal on parallel tracks, noting provinces resist rapid coal retirements. CBC recounted Greenpeace’s point that China remains the world’s leading builder of new coal capacity, and that in 2023 China accounted for 95 percent of new coal power construction worldwide, with more than 78 gigawatts of coal brought online in 2025.
Political worries have surfaced in Canada over reliance on Chinese AI driven systems. Ontario Premier Doug Ford warned of security risks and likened some Chinese technologies to potential surveillance tools, remarks reported by CBC. Zhang rejected those claims in his interview, citing transparency and cooperation with local regulators.
Officials Push AI Driven Grid Reform At Home
Beijing has signalled its own policy push to marry AI and the power system. Xinhua reported that Premier Li Qiang urged faster development of a “new type power system” during a visit to Sichuan. He called for expanding green electricity supply and optimising the energy mix to strengthen energy security and support growth, Xinhua said.
Li asked market players to explore new grid architectures, improve system wide coordination and regulation, and build a safer, low carbon, flexible and intelligent power system, Xinhua reported. The state news agency also noted China’s long standing challenge in matching distributed renewable output with demand, and said digital and smart technologies are central to allocating electricity more flexibly.
Xinhua framed the modern power system as critical to Beijing’s longer term carbon neutrality goals. The official account emphasised that AI and smarter grids are meant to smooth renewable integration and reduce reliance on older fossil assets, while acknowledging transmission and dispatch constraints have limited renewable use to date.
