Renewable energy demand could triple as electricity consumption surges
Renewable energy demand will triple over the next seven years as data center growth accelerates to facilitate the proliferation of artificial intelligence, NextEra Energy CEO John Ketchum said Wednesday.
Renewable energy demand will triple over the next seven years as data center growth accelerates to facilitate the proliferation of artificial intelligence, NextEra Energy CEO John Ketchum said Wednesday.
NextEra added 3,000 megawatts of renewable and storage projects to its order backlog in the second quarter. Of those, 860 megawatts — or 28% — come from agreements with Google to power the tech company’s data centers.
“This marks our second best origination quarter ever,” Ketchum told analysts on the company’s earnings call Wednesday. “These results support our belief that the bulk of the growth demand will be met by a combination of renewables and battery storage.”
NextEra’s business with tech and data center customers currently stands at seven gigawatts of renewable assets in operation and in backlog, said Brian Bolster, NextEra’s chief financial officer.
NextEra stock was up 3.5% in early afternoon trading. It is the largest power company in the S&P utilities sector by market capitalization and operates the largest renewable portfolio in the U.S.
Rating: 5