The UAE is experiencing an “overwhelming” demand for energy as it advances towards future technologies, according to Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail Al Mazrouei. He made these remarks at the World Utilities Congress, highlighting the country’s rapid development of new data centres alongside a burgeoning population.

With artificial intelligence emerging as a significant societal driver, Mr. Al Mazrouei emphasized the need for governments to be “very open to new ideas when it comes to efficiency improvement.” He noted that the demand for power is increasing rapidly, particularly for data centres, stating, “The demand is growing and growing very strongly… It’s overwhelming, I can tell you, even for a country like us in the UAE.”

His comments follow the recent launch of Stargate UAE, a substantial data centre project being developed in Abu Dhabi by major players in the AI industry, including G42, OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank Group.

More updates are expected as the UAE seeks to address its energy challenges.