BlackRock Sees AI Driving A 50% Jump In Asian Energy Demand

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

BlackRock expects the AI boom and data centers to drive a 50% jump in energy consumption in the Asia Pacific region over the next decade, a senior executive at the world’s largest asset manager said on Wednesday.

“The need for data centers over the next five years is going to be double what is currently in the markets,” Brad Kim, BlackRock’s Asia Pacific managing director for global infrastructure funds, told a media briefing, as carried by Bloomberg.

“[O]verall energy consumption will increase by about 50% in the next 10 years across Asia Pacific,” the executive added.

Technology giants have already started to secure long-term power contracts in Asia, where electricity and overall energy demand are rising and will rise more than previously expected, due to the demand for data centers and AI development.

Last month, Microsoft signed a deal to buy all the solar power from a project in Singapore as the tech giant seeks to achieve its goal of having 100% of its electricity consumption, 100% of the time, matched by zero-carbon energy purchases by 2030.

Microsoft has signed an agreement with EDP Renewables, a Spain-based company, to buy 100% percent of the renewable energy exported to the grid from EDP Renewables’ SolarNova 8 project in Singapore.

Asia will present huge opportunities for investment in infrastructure, including in energy infrastructure, as the AI boom unfolds, BlackRock says.

“Every client we speak to is interested in investing in infrastructure, specifically energy transition and digital related infrastructure,” Charlie Reid, head of APAC renewable power investments at BlackRock, said, as quoted by Bloomberg.

Earlier this month, BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, Microsoft, and MGX launched a new AI partnership to invest in data centers and support power infrastructure. The partnership will initially seek to unlock $30 billion of private equity capital over time from investors, asset owners, and corporates, which in turn will mobilize up to $100 billion in total investment potential when including debt financing.

“Mobilizing private capital to build AI infrastructure like data centers and power will unlock a multi-trillion-dollar long-term investment opportunity,” said Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock.