Analysis: AI technology could further increase demand for natural gas
The hype surrounding AI could delay the move away from fossil fuels. This is not only assumed by natural gas companies. But there is also opposition.
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The AI boom could lead to a huge increase in demand for natural gas in the second half of the decade, undermining the planned move away from fossil fuels. This is the forecast of the investment bank Tudor Pickering Holt, writes the news agency Reuters. Only at the beginning of the month, the Financial Times reported similar expectations among companies that earn their money from the extraction or transportation of natural gas. According to the analysis that Reuters is now referring to, the electricity requirements of data centers in the USA will increase from around 11 gigawatts to 42 gigawatts by 2030. That would be around two thirds of Germany's current electricity generation at peak times. Natural gas is essential to generate this.
Contradiction to forecasts
The analysis is not the first to come to the conclusion that the rapidly growing electricity consumption of data centers for a sustained AI boom can only be met with natural gas. Earlier this month, the Financial Times quoted the CEO of the largest natural gas producer in the USA as saying: "This will not be achieved without natural gas" in reference to the "AI revolution". For the industry, the growing consumption of data centers is just as important as the increasing demand for liquefied natural gas from Europe, for example. In addition, it is evidently expected that this will also lead to rising prices.
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However, there are also doubts about the expectations, the British newspaper summarized. For example, various data center operators have publicly committed to relying more heavily or entirely on renewable energies. If they stick to this, it could thwart the hopes of natural gas companies. The big uncertainty factor is the speed of AI development, which also makes it difficult to forecast the near future. According to the Financial Times, Siemens Energy in North America was expecting demand for natural gas to start declining in the coming years: "I think this turnaround has now been pushed further and further back," the newspaper quotes the head of the German company's subsidiary as saying.
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