These comments from Brookfield CEO Bruce Flatt caught my attention:
The next 20 years will be an unprecedented period for electricity generation. The electrification of industrial power, automobiles, home heating and other uses is driving unprecedented growth in electricity demand. Moreover, the world is adding data centers for artificial intelligence and cloud computing at an astonishing pace.
To put this in perspective, the world’s installed electricity generation capacity is about 8,000 gigawatts. To meet projected demand, this installed capacity will need to expand to more than 20,000 gigawatts in the next 20 years. In addition, we will have to eliminate about half of what we have today, because it is too carbon-intensive. In other words, we need to double our current capacity (which has been largely built over the past 50 years) while replacing about 50% of what we have. Nothing like this has ever been attempted before.But it is essential to realize that this is necessary to achieve the world’s net zero goals and drive the AI revolution.
All of this must happen in a world where building large-scale projects has never been more difficult because of costs, financing, liability, regulation, and litigation. I imagine a future where few people can take the constant demand for electricity for granted, and where whoever can keep the lights on regularly wins elections.
See also: A perfect storm is about to hit the world’s power grids