The latest meeting of the AI Energy Council - the final round of
discussions for 2025 - has taken place in London.
AI minister and energy ministers
and yesterday (1st December)
co-chaired the latest meeting of the AIEnergy Council in
London. Joined by regulators and representatives from the
energy and tech sectors, talks centred on speeding up grid
connections and building the infrastructure needed to power new
AI infrastructure
and AIGrowth Zones across the
UK.
Council members discussed progress on government action to
accelerate connections for AI data centres. This
includes steps to reduce potential pressures on the energy
network by supporting data centres based in AI Growth Zones with
significant discounts on their electricity bills in instances
where they will be able to harness excess capacity.
The AI Minister
reflected on how AI
has become a key driver of the government's missions on growth
and prosperity, noting the recent announcements of new AI Growth Zones for North
East England, and North and South Wales. Discussions also covered
the recently-announced package of reforms to support the delivery
of AI Growth Zones,
particularly highlighting how AI Growth Zone infrastructure
projects will benefit from plans to accelerate grid access.
The discussions focused on how the UK can be more ambitious in
harnessing the opportunities of AI – understanding the energy
capacity needed to meet demand, unlocking access to that capacity
on the energy grid, and exploring innovative solutions to power
AI infrastructure,
including self-build options.
The council will next meet in early 2026, with discussions
expected to build on work to understand AI's energy capacity and demand.
This will include a particular focus on unlocking sustainable and
innovative solutions to power future AI infrastructure, including
within AI Growth
Zones.
