It would be ironic if world-changing technology like AI ended up prolonging the life of coal-fired power.
Already a subscriber?More than just a portend of a dystopian future, short-term equity play and/or productivity enhancer, AI also consumes large amounts of electricity and is already changing the energy transition discussion.
The US experience is instructive, where utilities are playing catch-up having underestimated AI’s electricity demand. This was a major point of discussion at the recent CERA Energy Week in Houston. of a nuclear-powered data centre for $US650 million is viewed as part of a growing trend among US utilities and energy users actively considering new nuclear projects. The same is occurring in Europe.does not mention AI, the additional demand it will create, or how it will affect power system designs.Instead, AEMO focused on projected demand from electric vehicles and hydrogen production.
In the next few years, data centres will consume more than Australia’s largest baseload power station – NSW’s 2600-megawatt Eraring.And with the need for this additional 24/7 power, Australia’s challenge is that it comes at a time when the AEMO estimates 62 per cent of the National Electricity Market’s coal fleet – Australia’s main 24/7 power source – is expected to close by 2033.
This is already occurring in Victoria where commercial-in-confidence deals with Energy Australia – the owner of the 1500-megawatt Yallourn power station – and AGL, which owns the 2200-megawatt Loy Yang power station, are being used to delay their exits.Meanwhile, renewable energy and storage replacements cannot be built quickly enough. And new dispatchable power sources, irrespective of technology, will take years to build.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Biden administration issues new rules seeking to cut vehicle carbon emissions, boost EV salesThe new standards will avoid more than 7 billion tonnes of planet-warming carbon emissions during the next three decades and provide nearly $151 billion in annual net benefits, according to the EPA — but they could be rolled back if Donald Trump is returned to office.
Read more »
An Australian farmer has held the first carbon-neutral cattle saleSeven hundred breeding cows and heifers reared in a ‘carbon neutral farming system’ sold in NSW on Thursday. But can a live cow be carbon neutral?
Read more »
Australia’s carbon credits system a failure on global scale, study findsResearchers find carbon offsets approach, which is supposed to regenerate scrubby outback forests, was not reducing emissions as promised
Read more »
Tasmanian start-up Sea Forest joins with dairy producer Ashgrove to create low carbon milkDairy producer links up with Tasmanian start-up to produce the world’s first low-emissions milk.
Read more »
Eni to review plans for carbon-intensive Verus gas field to minimise 'environmental footprint'Italian resource giant Eni is reviewing multi-billion-dollar development plans for an extremely carbon-intensive new gas field 330 kilometres north-west of Darwin.
Read more »
Atlassian jobs headed for low-carbon building at Sydney CentralThe work-from-home revolution has failed to kill the $1.5b Atlassian Central project near Sydney Central Station, with a key construction milestone now passed.
Read more »