Global Conference on Energy & AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as one of today’s most important technologies – and its impact on the energy sector could be transformative. Innovation is taking place rapidly, and new use cases are emerging every day. The sector is already applying artificial intelligence to improve how energy is produced, consumed and distributed – making the operation of complex systems, such as the electricity sector, more secure, efficient and sustainable. At the same time, expanding AI and the digital economy requires huge data centres that run on electricity. Although their energy use today is small in the context of the global energy system, demand has increased rapidly in recent years and is expected to keep growing. Considering the implications of the AI revolution is therefore critical to understanding the future of energy. 

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has long been at the forefront of understanding the links between the energy sector and digitalisation, and as the only global agency tracking all fuels, technologies, sectors and geographies, it is uniquely placed to analyse the connections between AI and energy. To explore the opportunities and challenges ahead, the IEA is launching a major new initiative: Energy for AI & AI for Energy.  

There is an urgent need for dialogue between the energy industry, tech sector and policy makers, and a structured, comprehensive assessment of the potential implications of AI in the energy sector. As part of this initiative and to provide a space for dialogue, the IEA will host the Global Conference on Energy and AI. This Conference will feed into the IEA’s forthcoming Special Report on Energy and AI and will help to support various political fora where the AI and energy nexus is discussed. 

The Conference is structured around two days: 

• 4 December: a technical-level Forum on Energy and AI, bringing together key experts from across government, industry and academia. 

• 5 December: an invitation-only High-Level Roundtable on Energy and AI with global decisionmakers from government, the tech sector and the energy industry.   

Attendance is by invitation only. Further information for attendees can be found here.