Today 24 April representatives of some 60 governments from countries around the world – the majority at ministerial or equivalent level – will gather in London for the International Summit on the future of energy security that the International Energy Agency is hosting in partnership with the UK government.
The Summit, on 24-25 April, is seeking to build consensus on a holistic approach to addressing the energy security challenges of today and tomorrow and to identify solutions and opportunities to tackle them. Those participating are from countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East – including those on the front lines of a wide range of energy challenges, including access, affordability, reliability and climate.
Leaders from all across the energy industry – including oil, gas, renewables, electricity, nuclear, critical minerals and more – as well as from international organisations and civil society are taking part in the discussions in and around the Summit, which seek to ensure governments have the tools they need to prevent and respond to the range of issues confronting them in a fast-evolving context. Altogether, 120 high-level invitees are participating in the Summit itself, and many more in the associated events.
UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband and IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol are co-chairing the event and featuring among the keynote speakers.
AI ‘will drive energy demand’
Artificial intelligence has the potential to reshape the energy sector in the coming decade, driving a surge in electricity demand from data centres around the world while also unlocking significant opportunities to cut costs, enhance competitiveness and reduce emissions, according to the IEA’s major new report.
‘Energy and AI’ offers the most comprehensive, data-driven global analysis to date on the growing connections between energy and AI. It projects that electricity demand from data centres worldwide is set to more than double by 2030 to around 945 TWh, slightly more than the entire electricity consumption of Japan today. AI will be the most significant driver of this increase, with electricity demand from AI-optimised data centres expected to more than quadruple by 2030.
A diverse range of energy sources will be tapped to meet data centres’ rising electricity needs – though renewables and natural gas are set to take the lead owing to their cost-competitiveness and availability in key markets.
For more information, read the full report
