Energy unveils green resource hub for AI-based grid demand
High voltage power lines in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Department of Energy released guidance to help electricity providers manage increased demand from artificial intelligence workloads. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The new online resource is the latest step Energy has taken to match the pace of green energy transitions with growing electricity needs from artificial intelligence applications.
The Department of Energy is positioning the nation’s power grid to support the growing energy demand artificial intelligence systems require with a new digital resource hub to guide grid owners toward sustainable solutions.
Released on Friday, the Electricity Demand Growth Resource Hub consists of Energy’s current studies and recommendations to assist with the complex marriage of grid decarbonization and supporting AI applications.
“A nation powered by clean energy is a goal being brought into reality by the Biden-Harris administration as the country achieves a manufacturing boom not seen in decades and expands new industries, like data centers and AI,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in a press release. “Today we are generating record amounts of carbon-free power — with more projected as the Investing in America agenda comes into full swing. DOE is uniquely positioned to help industry partners win this moment with clean energy while [ensuring an] affordable and reliable power grid for all consumers.”
The new Resource Hub boasts Energy’s guidance and analyses supporting affordability for increased load operations, as well as upcoming events for grid operators to learn more about grid sustainability in the age of AI. Incorporating green energy infrastructure within the existing U.S. power grid comes as a challenge given the projected increase in electricity burgeoning AI applications demand, with some estimates forecasting a need of an additional 14 gigawatts of new power capacity by 2030. That’s more than 1% of the total U.S. utility-scale electricity-generation capacity as estimated by the U.S. Energy Information Administration at the end of 2023.
This latest step in promoting sustainable energy against a backdrop of advancing AI application follows multiple endeavors to bridge the two priority agendas. Other Energy officials have spoken about meeting grid operators’ needs to balance increased data processing with the larger Biden administration goal for a net-zero energy economy by 2050.
Energy has also jump-started a new procurement initiative to facilitate the adoption of green energy in a bid to expedite such solutions in government contracts.