China’s Clean Energy Leadership and the Race to Power AI Data Centers

The companies we select reflect some of the most important trends shaping the current moment. This year’s selections highlight China’s growing leadership in climate and energy technology, the race to develop next-generation batteries and the rising demand for reliable power as companies expand data centers.

China Is Leading the Global Climate and Energy Technology Race

China’s dominance in energy technology is a global trend worth repeating. The country has the world’s largest power grid and is adopting renewable energy at a remarkable pace.

Renewable energy company Envision Energy, which appears on our list for the second time, is helping drive this growth. The company has installed more than 100 gigawatts of wind power and more than 50 gigawatt-hours of battery storage around the world.

Like many other Chinese companies, Envision is looking beyond its crowded domestic market and expanding overseas. Its projects include work in Germany, Brazil and Australia, along with upcoming projects in Vietnam.

China is also advancing innovation in key technologies, including next-generation batteries. Major companies and many smaller firms are racing to develop solid-state batteries, which are considered safer than existing electric vehicle batteries and may offer longer driving ranges.

WeLion New Energy and the Promise of Solid-State Batteries

WeLion New Energy is particularly interesting. Last year, the battery company announced a major experiment that achieved an energy density of 824 watt-hours per kilogram—more than three times the energy density of today’s standard lithium-ion batteries.

Experimental results in battery research can be notoriously difficult to scale. However, WeLion is also working to deploy semi-solid-state batteries, which improve on lithium-ion technology while potentially reaching commercial use faster than fully solid-state batteries.

Everyone Wants a Share of the Data Center Power Market

Only three U.S. companies made our list, and two are receiving significant support from Big Tech as companies work to expand their data center capacity. The third, Brimstone, is focused more closely on critical minerals, another major political and industrial issue.

As data centers expand, technologies capable of providing reliable power are in high demand.

Fervo Energy Brings Next-Generation Geothermal Power to the Grid

Fervo Energy is using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to bring next-generation geothermal power to the grid and make it available in more locations.

The company went public in May, raised $2.2 billion in an IPO and plans to have gigawatts of geothermal power plants online by the end of 2030.