Jakarta – The International Energy Agency (IEA) hosted its inaugural Global Conference on Energy & AI, drawing over 500 participants, including ministers, policymakers, and industry leaders worldwide, the agency said Monday, December 9. The two-day event explored the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in the energy sector and its growing electricity demand.
The conference, held in Paris on December 4 and 5, featured a high-level roundtable with global decision-makers and technical discussions on AI’s dual role: optimising energy systems and accelerating innovation while addressing the energy demands of AI technologies.
Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director, stated that artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as one of today’s most important technologies – and its impact on the energy sector could be transformative. Innovation is taking place rapidly, and new use cases are emerging daily. He said the sector is already applying artificial intelligence to improve energy production, consumption, and distribution – making complex systems, such as the electricity sector, more secure, efficient, and sustainable.
The event showcased insights from representatives of tech giants like Amazon Web Services, Google, and Microsoft alongside energy leaders such as EDF, Hitachi Energy, and ExxonMobil. Ministers from 25 countries, including Brazil, India, and Japan, also shared perspectives on balancing AI innovation with sustainability.
“There is no AI without energy – specifically electricity,” Birol noted.
Highlighting the urgency of dialogue, the conference launched the IEA’s Energy for AI & AI for Energy initiative, which will produce a Special Report on the energy-AI nexus in spring 2025. This initiative seeks to address the challenges of powering AI’s rapid growth, including the rising energy demands of data centres, which can consume as much electricity as 100,000 households each.
The Global Conference underscored the need for collaboration between the tech and energy sectors to navigate AI’s opportunities and challenges, laying the groundwork for a secure, efficient, and sustainable digital future. (nsh)
Banner photo: IEA Global Conference on Energy & AI screenshot
