AI drives power demand – and vice versa. According to the International Energy Agency, global electricity consumption by data centers is projected to more than double to around 945 terawatt-hours by 2030– a quantity roughly equivalent to Japan’s annual electricity consumption today. Power availability has become a top priority in decisions about data center locations.
The paradox: Compute-intensive AI will be one of the fastest-growing drivers of electricity demand while AI is essential for making power systems themselves more resilient, efficient, and flexible. This dual role positions Industrial AI not as a peripheral technology, but as a structural enabler of future energy operations.
The energy industry needs to carefully embed AI into systems that drive or influence operational decisions. Failures can have severe financial, safety, or environmental consequences. Operators must be able to trace, audit, and verify every decision. Human oversight remains essential. In practice, this means architects need to design Industrial AI systems so that: decisions are explainable and verifiable, Industrial AI supports existing safety and control frameworks, data security is ensured, human operators retain final authority, systems are seamlessly integrated with deterministic control logic, and cybersecurity is embedded at every layer.
