Hydrocarbons are set to meet about three-quarters of the expected 500% surge in power demand from data centers, as the AI boom and global economic growth push energy demand “accelerating across every dimension,” Sultan Al Jaber, ADNOC chief executive, said on Tuesday.
The surge in AI use and the data centers to handle the technologies are set to boost power demand from data centers by 500% by 2040, Al Jaber, who is also UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, said at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.
Soaring power demand means oil and gas will play a major role in supporting the growth for decades, the official noted.
“Over 70 per cent of this energy will still come from hydrocarbons,” Al Jaber said at the forum, as carried by The National.
“And while some view this as a constraint, I view it as a catalyst. Because sustainable progress is not about slowing down growth; it is about designing a better engine,” the chief executive of Abu Dhabi’s national oil company added.
In November, Al Jaber said at the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi that the advance in AI and the surge in data center build-out have pushed global energy investment needs to $4 trillion annually.
Large oil producers have been warning for years that investment in supply needs to rise to meet constantly growing global energy demand. Now the new AI age requires even more investment in energy supply and grids, Al Jaber said at one of the energy industry’s key conferences.
“You can’t run tomorrow’s economy on yesterday’s grid,” the official said, as he noted that the world needs $4 trillion in annual capital investment in grids, data centers, and all sources of energy.
“While we may face headwinds in the months ahead, the long-term outlook shows demand growth for every form of energy across every market,” Al Jaber said, referring to the glut on the oil market.
“Our response to meet that demand should focus on the data, not the drama,” the official added.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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