The International Energy Agency (IEA) has announced the launch of a Global AI and Energy Monitoring Center this spring to track the growing impact of data center construction on electricity consumption. During the “AI Action Summit” in Paris, IEA Executive Director highlighted that the rapid growth of artificial intelligence and digital technologies requires urgent coordination between energy companies, government institutions, and the technology sector to ensure a stable and sustainable energy infrastructure.
According to IEA data, electricity demand from data centers currently accounts for 1.4 percent of global consumption, with projections suggesting it could reach as high as three percent by 2030. An AI data center can consume as much electricity as 100,000 households on average. IEA Director Birol warned that without proper planning and the construction of new energy infrastructure, many AI projects risk being delayed or halted.
In addition to increasing energy demands, artificial intelligence offers significant potential to transform how we produce, consume, and distribute energy. AI can improve weather forecasting and efficiency in developing new technologies, including nuclear energy (such as small modular reactors) and geothermal solutions, while also optimizing the operation of electric grids.
More:
- India Sets Ambitious Goals: 500 GW of Clean Energy by 2030
- OECD Report Highlights Global Disparity in Wind Energy Support
- EU Energy Report 2024: Solar Surpasses Coal, Wind Stable Amid Challenges, LNG on the Rise
In December last year, the IEA organized the first global conference on energy and artificial intelligence, where experts from various sectors discussed how AI can facilitate the green transition and enhance energy system efficiency. Ahead of the release of its new Special Report on Energy and Artificial Intelligence on April 10, Dr. Birol confirmed that the “Energy, AI, and Data Center Observatory” will also be launched on the same day, providing the most detailed publicly available data on the global energy needs of AI technologies.
India is currently constructing the world’s largest data center, designed to offer massive storage, processing, and analytics capacities to support the development of artificial intelligence and other advanced digital technologies. The data center is being built near Mumbai, one of India’s key business and technology hubs, and during the summit, the IEA director praised the Indian Prime Minister for this ambitious initiative.
The primary goal of the project is to ensure a reliable IT infrastructure that supports the exponential growth of AI applications while giving India a strategic advantage in the global race for technological innovation, attracting international investments, and creating new jobs in the rapidly growing IT sector.
The new observatory that the IEA plans to launch will serve as a centralized, comprehensive system for monitoring energy consumption in data centers and the impact of artificial intelligence on energy infrastructure. This means the IEA will collect and analyze detailed data on how much electricity data centers worldwide consume, how the rising demand for AI technologies is affecting global electricity needs, and which models of collaboration and innovation prove most effective after the project goes live this spring.
Energy portal
