Asia sits atop vast amounts of coal, nearly three-fifths of the world’s known reserves by some estimates. Cheaper and more reliable than imported oil and gas, and far less vulnerable to disruptions caused by foreign wars, coal is also dirty, polluting – and the region’s No 1 “stopgap source” to power the AI infrastructure roll-out. “AI demand is materialising faster than clean energy generation can be commissioned,” said Alexander Kheder, a market research analyst at BMI who tracks global AI...
Shanghai has pioneered the synergisation of computing centres with the power grid for peak-load management – a national first – as part of China’s push to enhance computing-grid coordination as its upgrades power infrastructure amid the global artificial intelligence race. Led by State Grid’s Shanghai subsidiary, the trial achieved a peak load reduction of 97.8 megawatts within a two-hour window, marking the country’s largest single city-level adjustment of computing power load, according to a...