The government-appointed AI Energy Council will meet on Monday with reformations to the energy grid and building new infrastructure at the top of its agenda.
Last month saw two new regions, North and South Wales, designated as AI Growth Zones, putting greater pressure on the council to finalise plans to ensure the UK’s energy grid can meet the growing demands of the power-hungry technology.
Welsh MP and AI Minister Kanishka Narayan will chair the council meeting alongside Energy Minister Lord Vallance. It will see leaders from the AI, data centre and energy sectors come together to discuss faster grid connections to power rapid expansion of AI capabilities.
“AI Growth Zones are about creating jobs and unlocking long-term investment for every single community, right across the UK. We’ve already taken bold steps to reform the grid and now we’re making sure those changes deliver results,” said Narayan.
“By teaming up with tech companies, energy providers and regulators, we’re freeing grid capacity for the projects that matter most. Businesses now have even greater confidence to invest, local economies an even greater boost, and our public services an even greater chance to use AI to serve our communities.”
Grid connections has been identified by the council and the industry as the primary barrier to new AI infrastructure and the rollout of the promised AI Growth Zones.
It will review proposals to address this, including prioritising AI data centres for connections to the grid and supporting developers to build energy solutions on site.
There are also plans to launch a new Connections Accelerator Service, which will offer engineering support to strategically important projects including data centre construction within AI Growth Zones.
“We are working hand-in-hand with industry to make Britain a world-leader in AI, securing the jobs of the future in tech and clean energy,” Vallance said.
“By cutting delays and connecting data centres to the grid more quickly, our clean power mission is backing the rollout of AI Growth Zones to supercharge the UK’s economy. AI will also help with more efficient use of our energy and better supply of clean energy.”
Read more: How can the UK reform the energy grid to meet AI needs?
