Data Centres, Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrencies Eye Advanced Nuclear to Meet Growing Power Needs [eng., ar., zh., fr., ru., es.]

With the electricity consumption of data centres, artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrencies set to grow in the coming years, major tech companies are actively looking to advanced nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors (SMRs) to provide clean, reliable and flexible power. This could result in a new pathway for the commercialization of SMRs and other advanced reactors in markets where they are yet to emerge. Data centres (which house the servers and computing equipment needed to store digital information), AI and cryptocurrencies are driving an increase in electricity demand in several regions. Together, they accounted for 2% of global electricity consumption in 2022, a figure that may double by 2026, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The combined electricity consumption of four companies alone — Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Meta — more than doubled between 2017 and 2021 to about 72 terawatthours (TWh).