Beijing is calling for greater investment in renewable energy and electricity grid technology

China’s state planner has called for more investment in upgrading equipment to support the country’s energy transition. The energy modernization plan calls for investment in grid and renewable technologies, energy conservation and the flexibility of coal-fired plants — areas Beijing has signaled will be key to the transition from coal to low-carbon energy. The plan reiterates existing regulations on equipment upgrades, including one requiring wind farms older than 15 years or less than 1.5 megawatts (MW) to be upgraded.

Some of the world’s largest economies are experiencing an unprecedented increase in demand for electricity thanks to technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), cryptocurrencies and clean energy production. The ongoing AI boom, in particular, has driven an increase in energy demand, with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) predicting that data centers will gobble up as much as 9% of all electricity generated in the United States by the end of the decade , up from ~1.5% currently, as Scientific American reported. For the first time in decades, US electricity demand is projected to grow by as much as 15 percent over the next decade, a trend that could complicate Biden’s goal of decarbonizing the energy sector by 2035.

In June, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm revealed that President Joe Biden’s administration was in talks with major technology companies to invest in green electricity generation to meet their growing demand.

“I talked to data companies. The big ones have net zero commitments and would like to see clean base power. If the tech companies are going to come and take clean energy off the grid, they should bring the power with them. And so a lot of this conversation is happening right now between technology companies and utilities, technology companies and nuclear companies,Granholm told Reuters in an interview.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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