US energy firms spend record sums on power plants for data centres – and more top energy stories

Energy companies in the US are pumping record amounts into building power plants and transmission lines to meet electricity demand from data centres.

According to a report in the Financial Times, utility capital expenditure is expected to rise 22.3% year-over-year to reach $212.1 billion by 2025. Investment is forecast to reach a record high of $228.1bn in 2027.

The demand for data centres is in part due to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) – and data centre energy consumption is forecast to grow as the technology advances. A typical AI-focused data centre uses as much electricity as 100,000 households, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The largest under construction currently will consume 20 times that much, it says.

Simultaneously, AI can be a powerful tool to positively support wider energy system transformation. For example, it is already being used to improve energy efficiency across industries, accelerate renewable energy integration and make power grids more resilient. This is the AI energy paradox – balancing these challenges against AI-enabled opportunities.

While global alignment has long driven the energy transition in strategic terms, execution will need to be determined on a local basis, according to a report from the World Economic Forum.

Transitions are now multi-speed and multidimensional, the Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2025 report finds, as countries and regions face distinct challenges across energy equity, security and sustainability.

Rather than relying solely on collective action and uniform timelines and approaches, this calls for both globally aligned action and localized approaches tailored to each country’s capacities, priorities and starting points.

It will require careful navigation of complex trade-offs, a rethinking of how policies, markets and institutions interact, and key structural shifts that allow for diverse resources and capabilities, says the report.

Google has signed an agreement to buy 200 megawatts of power from a planned nuclear fusion plant in Virginia, US. Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ plant is aiming to be the world’s first grid-scale fusion power facility.

Malaysia has cut green electricity tariff premium rates by 80%, beginning 1 July, as it moves to diversify green power supply access options for businesses.

Northeast Asia shipped the most jet fuel to Europe in almost a year in June. It comes as lower freight rates and ample Asian supplies boosted exports.

Eight transmission operators in the European Union have formed an alliance to accelerate the development of the continent’s grid. The agreement between Italy, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain is designed to boost problem-solving and cooperation as the renewable energy transition continues.

The European Union has launched a new online platform to help the bloc’s companies efficiently source energy and raw materials, covering hydrogen, raw materials, natural gas and biomethane.

In the first half of 2025, India’s renewable power output grew at its fastest pace since 2022, according to data from Reuters. The share of renewables, excluding hydropower, reached a record peak of more than 17% in June.

Brazil’s government has approved a measure to increase the mandatory blend of ethanol in gasoline from 27% to 30%. Growth in the country’s corn ethanol sector is expected to cover the demand.

French utility Engie has completed Africa’s largest wind farm – a 650 megawatt project in Egypt – ahead of schedule. The company is targeting the Middle East and North Africa as a priority region for the growth of renewables.

Delegates at the Nuclear Energy Innovation Summit for Africa in Rwanda have called for the accelerated adoption of nuclear to meet the continent’s rising energy demand. South Africa is currently the only country on the continent producing nuclear power.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries are collectively the world’s fourth-largest energy consumer and as demand rises the region will need at least $200 billion in annual energy investments by 2030. Regional collaboration will be key to charting a course to a sustainable energy transition.

China’s greenhouse gas emissions have dropped due to clean energy use for the first time – but whether the country will meet its pledge to hit peak emissions before 2030 is still uncertain. Read more about China’s role as a global renewable energy leader.

Effectively addressing climate change while ensuring an affordable and resilient energy supply will require an overhaul of the energy system over the next two decades. Renewables will form part of the equation, but can’t be the only solution, argues this piece.

To learn more about the work of the Energy, Materials, Infrastructure Platform, contact Ella Yutong Lin: ellayutong.lin@weforum.org