One of the country's experts on data centres says the use of artificial intelligence will explode the data centre energy demand.
It is a boom time for data centres in this country, with predictions that data centres could soon match the Tiwai Point aluminium smelters as the country's biggest power user by 2030.
A recent analysis by business consultancy EY found data centres said while data centres could be something of a boon to this country economically, investment is needed to boost the country's electricity generation.
There have been several major deals where the data centre company pays for what are essentially certificates to be able to say their product is backed by 100 per cent renewable energy.
One example is Contact Energy's Te Huka 3 geothermal plant, which it says is partly funded by its 10-year deal with Microsoft, which is building three data centres in Auckland. But increasing use of AI is expected to surge power demand from these kinds of sites.
Datacom's Andrew Green tells Kathryn just how AI explodes energy use for data centres.
Photo: 123rf
