<p>Supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) Brayton cycle has prominent advantages such as high cycle efficiency, compact equipment structure, and wide application scope. The sCO₂ centrifugal compressor, as one of the core components of the cycle system, plays a crucial role in ensuring efficient and stable operation of the unit. However, due to the real-gas effect of carbon dioxide, the compressor faces many challenges during actual operation, among which axial thrust of the impeller is particularly prominent, posing higher requirements for impeller structure design. Therefore, to ensure safe and reliable operation of the compressor, this paper conducts research on balance methods of axial thrust of sCO₂ centrifugal compressor impeller. Through numerical simulation, the influences of structural parameters of balance holes on performance and axial thrust of sCO₂ centrifugal compressor are studied. Results show that as the diameter of balance hole increases or the radial position moves outward, the total axial thrust shows a continuous increasing trend, while increase in hole diameter leads to decrease in isentropic efficiency of compressor, and moving hole position radially outward causes isentropic efficiency to increase. Considering both performance and the balance effect on axial thrust, two sets of schemes are determined, which can balance approximately 26% of axial thrust, causing only 1% efficiency loss. In addition, this paper corrects empirical calculation formulas for leakage flow and balance force under design conditions, providing an engineering reference for rapid preliminary estimation of balance hole design in sCO₂ centrifugal compressor.</p>