COMMENT: AI plans must consider clean power goals

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has laid out plans to ‘turbocharge AI’ in the UK.

The sector presents a real opportunity to drive productivity and growth, but what impact will this have on energy?

James Humfrey, CEO of the Morocco – UK Power Project, comments:

“The AI sector presents a real opportunity to drive UK productivity and growth but to deliver on this opportunity we need to ensure we can meet the considerable and rapidly growing energy demand that will be required, particularly in conjunction with 2030 clean power goals. It is welcome that the government has established an AI Energy Council to ensure we identify those clean energy sources we will need.

“To power always-on and energy-intensive AI and datacentres, we need solutions that provide firm and flexible low-carbon power regardless of weather conditions, to complement our increasingly renewables-based energy system.

“This is where solutions such as interconnectors will be critical to our energy mix. When the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine, solar and wind power that is negatively correlated with the UK’s weather patterns presents a real opportunity to guarantee a firm and secure clean energy supply to help to meet the considerable demand from datacentres and AI.”