From computer collaboration to component upgrading: the underlying logic and industry insights of the AIDC energy storage boom

Since the beginning of this year, the concept of AIDC energy storage has continued to heat up. At the Energy Storage International Summit and Exhibition (ESIE 2026) in early April, AIDC undoubtedly became the hottest topic - from industry giants to startups, they all put related products, solutions or plans on the C-position of their booths. This intuitively conveys a clear signal: AIDC energy storage is accelerating from an industry hotspot to large-scale implementation, and bringing a structural change driven by computing power demand to the upstream electronic components industry.

The underlying driving force behind this transformation is the elevation of "computing and electronics collaboration" to a national strategy. In 2026, the concept of "computing power collaboration" will be included in the government work report for the first time, explicitly requiring that the proportion of energy storage supporting facilities in newly built intelligent computing centers should not be less than 15% -20%, and the proportion of green electricity consumption should not be less than 80%. At the same time, the explosion of AI computing power has forced the rapid iteration of power supply architecture. NVIDIA's single-chip power has exceeded 1000W, and single cabinet is moving towards MW level. Its 800V power supply white paper points out a clear evolution path from traditional AC UPS to HVDC side car, and then to solid-state transformer. Traditional solutions such as power frequency transformers, lead-acid batteries, and mechanical circuit breakers are becoming increasingly inadequate in high power density scenarios, while new generation components such as SiC/GaN power devices, solid-state circuit breakers, and high-frequency isolation transformers are becoming a new necessity.

When the energy storage system shifts from traditional new energy matching to AIDC power supply, there is a fundamental upgrade in technical parameters and component selection. The AIDC scenario places extremely high demands on energy storage systems: high power, millisecond level response, and high reliability. The first layer of conduction effect of this technological upgrade directly falls on the power semiconductor link. In the era of collaborative computing, the core trend of energy storage power devices has become very clear - switching from traditional silicon-based IGBTs to wide bandgap semiconductors SiC and GaN, while achieving high frequency, high voltage, and high density to meet the high power consumption, strong fluctuation, and high reliability electricity needs of intelligent computing centers. In practical applications, the energy storage PCS efficiency using SiC scheme can be improved by about 1 percentage point, and the power density can be increased by 20% -25%. Due to the drastic changes in computing power load, energy storage systems require millisecond level power response capability. The high-frequency characteristics of SiC devices make them an ideal choice for key components such as isolated DC/DC.

In addition, the high-voltage direct current conversion of AIDC power supply architecture has also given rise to new categories such as solid-state circuit breakers and electronic fuses. Solid state circuit breakers use SiC switches, reducing response speed from milliseconds to microseconds, which is crucial for protecting expensive AI servers. At the same time, CBU/BBU has also upgraded from the supporting role in traditional UPS to the core rigid demand, which puts forward new requirements for miniaturization and high power density of BMS chips, power switching devices, connectors, etc. The trend of switching backup power from lead-acid to lithium batteries is also becoming increasingly prominent. Lithium batteries replacing lead-acid directly drive the comprehensive upgrade of BMS - high-precision AFE chips MCU、 The usage of current sensors has significantly increased, the demand for thermal management components (temperature sensors, fan drive modules) has grown, and the process of replacing traditional fuses with electronic fuses is also accelerating. These changes collectively point to a general trend: protective devices are evolving from "mechanical" to "electronic".

From the information conveyed by ESIE 2026, AIDC energy storage is pushing power semiconductors, solid-state circuit breakers, BMS chips, high-frequency isolation transformers, electronic fuses and other components from "edge matching" to "core essential needs". These categories have limited or no usage in traditional data centers, but are indispensable in the AIDC era. The growth logic of the electronic components industry is shifting from "following scale expansion" to "seizing incremental opportunities in technological iteration". For participants in the industrial chain, a deep understanding of the ultimate demand for computing power load and the early layout of high-voltage and DC component solutions are key to grasping the initiative of this round of industrial transformation.