The World's Top Energy Watchdog Made the Bull Case for AI Power Stocks. Here's the Number That Matters.
The IEA expects energy demand from AI data centers in 2030 to exceed Japan's current energy demand.
Overview
The International Energy Agency (IEA) monitors the world's energy needs, and it recently provided an important update on artificial intelligence (AI). The number that matters most is that electricity demand from AI data centers is projected to more than double between 2024 and 2030, rising from 415 terawatt-hours (TWh) to 945 TWh. The projection for 2035 is 1,200 TWh, nearly triple the 2024 figure. This is a potentially huge opportunity for power providers.
It is hard to put 945 TWh into perspective without a reference point. To that end, the IEA noted that electricity demand from AI in 2030 will exceed Japan's current power use. To be fair, AI is a global phenomenon, so this electricity demand isn't coming from a single place. But data center electricity use has been growing at 12% per year since 2017, more than four times the overall rate of consumption growth. AI data center construction is a major driving force in the power sector that you simply can't ignore.
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Originally published at www.fool.com.