There seems to be no let-up in energy demand, despite net-zero emission targets and the need for further electrification to satisfy the power drain from data centres and artificial intelligence, speakers at the International Energy Week said.
This year’s theme at the prestigious IE Week, held in London on February 10-12 and organised by the Energy Institute, of which I am a fellow, was “Energy growth and security in an increasingly disordered transition.”
Andy Brown, president of the host Energy Institute, said that achieving net-zero depends on businesses capable of building “infrastructure and digital systems that make the transition investable and durable”.
He emphasised the critical need to reduce power costs to stimulate the electrification and demand growth necessary for a successful transition.
Shell CEO Wael Sawan set the tone of the conference when he said the world is in an energy addition mode, not energy substitution. This has been historically the case and it continues.
In Sawan’s words, energy underpins everything. The stakes are high. The fundamentals do not change, dictated by supply and demand. And energy demand has been and is growing, and continues to do so.
Sawan also said that the UK’s failure to build on its domestic resources is driving deindustrialisation. “We must be sure to build a resilient energy system for the future, before we dismantle the existing one.”
Russell Hardy, CEO of energy and trading giant Vitol, said that while many forecasters, including the IEA, predicted a massive oversupply for 2026, the market is actually tightening.
Vitol has pushed back its forecast for peak oil demand to the mid-2030s.
The IEA’s Fatih Birol emphasised that the world is decisively moving from burning fuels to using electricity. He noted that electricity demand is growing twice as fast as overall energy demand, driven by AI, data centres, and the electrification of transport and heating. At the same time, the global energy market is shifting toward a period of abundance.
Bloomberg’s New Energy Finance (BNEF) said that power grids have become the primary bottleneck for the energy transition, with more renewable capacity now “stuck in the queue” than currently exists on the global grid.
Mohammed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of the UAE’s renewables giant Masdar, said there is a fundamental change in the global energy debate. He observed that renewables are no longer discussed as ideals or alternatives but are now measured on reliability, scalability and delivery.
Tristan Abbey of the EIA talked about growth and security within an increasingly “disordered” energy transition.
AI, data centres and electrification are key drivers of energy demand growth. They demand security and reliability of supplies. We must deliver with what we have today, while we build what we need for the future.
In an uncertain world, the one certainty is that energy sits at the heart of it all and must be secure, reliable and affordable.
CNOOC emphasised that China is pursuing a “dual-track” strategy: expanding renewable capacity at a world-leading pace, while maintaining a strong fossil fuel “safety net” to ensure energy security.
Some 5 bln people are striving to improve their living standards, and access to affordable and reliable energy is central to this. Policies must remove obstacles, not ambition.
Africa needs the policies, the capital and investment to achieve energy security.
Clean energy consultant Michael Liebreich delivered a series of sharp critiques centered on his call for a “Pragmatic Climate Reset”. He argued that the energy transition is not dead, but it must be rescued from “ideological purity” and unrealistic targets to survive a growing political and social backlash.
Dr Charles Ellinas, Councilor, Atlantic Council
X: @CharlesEllinas
