Artificial Intelligence: Energy
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate she has made of the electricity demand associated with the implementation of the UK AI Hardware Plan; what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on the implications for grid capacity; and whether additional energy infrastructure projects will be required.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan
The Department meets regularly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero at every level. Through the AI Energy Council, Government also assesses system‑wide impacts, promotes energy efficiency and clean power solutions, and ensures that growth in AI compute supports economic growth without undermining energy security or climate objectives.
While individual elements of the AI Hardware Plan will have direct energy consumption implications, the Plan as a whole aims to anchor a growing share of high-value AI hardware activity and industrial capability in the UK. While AI creates significant energy demand, the Plan will promote the commercialisation and deployment of more energy efficiency AI hardware.
In regards to specific elements such as the new national AI supercomputer, estimates are ongoing and dependent on a number of factors such as the energy efficiency of novel AI inference chips, which promise to significantly reduce the energy consumption of the hardware used.
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