Renewables Emerge as Key to Meet AI-Driven Energy Demand
The operator of the largest gas-fired electricity generation fleet in America believes that renewables will be vital to meet the rise in power demand driven by AI and the reshoring of manufacturing.
NextEra Energy – whose 72 gigawatts (GW) operating portfolio consists of 55% renewables, 36% gas, and 8% nuclear power generation – says that America will need all forms of energy to meet the expected surge in demand. And wind, solar, and battery storage can act as the “bridge” energy source until new natural gas and nuclear capacity comes online.
For years, natural gas was touted as the “bridge fuel” between coal and renewables.
Now, renewables should be viewed as the energy source to help meet demand until new gas and nuclear power plants are commissioned, NextEra’s chairman, president, and CEO, John Ketchum, said on the company’s Q1 earnings call this week.
All forms of power will be needed in the coming years, and the U.S. shouldn’t pick winners and losers among the various sources capable of delivering the necessary power generation increase, the executive noted.
“We should be thinking about renewables and battery storage as a critical bridge” until other technology is ready at scale, like new gas-fired plants, Ketchum said.
NextEra expects more than 450 GW of cumulative demand for new generation between now and 2030 in the United States.
“To meet this demand, we believe it’s important to exercise what I described as energy realism and energy pragmatism. Energy realism is about embracing all forms of energy solutions and understanding the demand for electricity in the United States is here now, and it’s not slowing down,” Ketchum added.
As many as 75 GW of gas-fired capacity is set to come online by 2030, according to NextEra’s estimates. While significant, this increase is nowhere close to meeting the over 450 GW of total generation that NextEra believes is needed.
“Bottom line, don’t take this as picking winners and losers. It’s not nor can it be,” Ketchum said.
NextEra’s top executive stressed the importance of the U.S. Administration’s policy in encouraging all forms of energy in America.
“We cannot isolate ourselves to just a couple of technologies like gas and nuclear, which are much more expensive than they’ve ever been and take far longer to build. We say all this as a company in our space that does it all,” Ketchum told analysts during the earnings call.
As early as in March, Ketchum warned the audience at the CERAWeek event in Houston not to overlook renewables as a vital source of electricity in the United States.
Renewables should be part of the equation, NextEra’s CEO said last month, noting that “There’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. We’re going to need all forms of generation- renewables, gas, and nuclear.”
AI data centers and the reshoring of some manufacturing will drive U.S. electricity demand growth over the coming decade.
The world’s biggest economy will need all energy sources to ensure power demand is met. Natural gas is the biggest near-term winner of AI advancements, but renewables will also play a key role in powering the data centers of next-generation computing, analysts say.
Policy and regulation “will need to reflect the reality that there is a need for all generation technologies,” according to Wood Mackenzie’s analysts, as the natural gas boom alone cannot meet the soaring electricity demand.
AI data centers are set to account for almost half of U.S. power demand growth by the end of the decade, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its Energy and AI report earlier this month.
Driven by AI use, America will consume more electricity for data centers than for the production of aluminum, steel, cement, chemicals, and all other energy-intensive goods combined, according to the agency.
