AI and Energy: A Mutual Empowerment Journey

In today’s era, the wave of artificial intelligence (AI) is surging, and energy transformation is imperative. When the most transformative general technology meets the most foundational strategic industry, what sparks will fly? Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission, the National Energy Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the National Data Bureau jointly issued the “Action Plan for Promoting Mutual Empowerment between Artificial Intelligence and Energy”. This plan provides a clear and powerful answer: it is not a one-way “empowerment”, but a deep “mutual journey”. This is not only a technological overlay but also a profound reshaping of development logic, aiming to construct a new pattern of energy development with “AI+” to inject strong new momentum into China’s future industrial high ground and promote high-quality development.

Building a Solid Safety Foundation

To support the advancement of AI, a strong, stable, and green computing power infrastructure is essential, and energy is the core support for this infrastructure. Without reliable energy supply, computing power is like water without a source; without safe electricity assurance, AI development will be constrained. The Action Plan keenly identifies this critical contradiction, placing “ensuring safe and reliable energy supply for computing power facilities” in a prominent position. On one hand, it optimizes the layout of energy resources and computing power, promoting the orderly gathering of computing power facilities in areas rich in new energy, achieving “computing power follows electricity”, which facilitates the nearby consumption of new energy while providing green, low-cost electricity for computing power. On the other hand, it addresses the stringent requirements for power supply quality in high real-time computing tasks such as AI model training by deploying special actions to enhance power supply quality, exploring diversified supply models like grid-type energy storage and direct connection of green electricity, thereby weaving a dense energy security network for computing power facilities. This clearly indicates that China’s push for AI development consistently adheres to bottom-line thinking and a systemic perspective—establishing and stabilizing the energy system to support the rapid construction and optimal operation of the computing power industry, thus building a solid backing for digital economic development.

Driving Green Transformation

AI is not only a significant consumer of energy but can also become a powerful tool for promoting energy revolution. The Action Plan deeply understands this dialectical relationship and proposes a systematic plan to “promote the green and low-carbon transformation of computing power facilities”, achieving a comprehensive upgrade from merely requiring the use of green electricity to actively creating favorable conditions and enhancing energy efficiency and carbon effectiveness. The plan explicitly requires increasing the proportion of green electricity in computing power facilities by improving direct connection policies for green electricity, strengthening energy-saving and carbon-reduction management, and exploring carbon footprint accounting, thereby providing a clear policy path and economic incentives for “greening” computing power facilities. Notably, the plan views computing power facilities themselves as a type of “new load” within the power system that possesses high flexibility. By guiding computing power facilities to participate in power grid peak shaving and demand response through market mechanisms, they transition from being mere energy consumers to active participants in balancing the power system. This innovative model of “computing power and electricity synergy” transforms “passive consumption” into “active regulation”, enhancing the economic benefits of computing power facilities while increasing the flexibility of the power system and its capacity to absorb new energy. This undoubtedly explores a replicable and scalable path for the entire society’s green and low-carbon transformation.

Unlocking Synergistic Effects

The deep empowerment of AI in the energy sector hinges on identifying the right “application scenarios”. The energy industry is vast, with a long chain and rich scenarios, providing an extensive testing ground for AI. The Action Plan dedicates a chapter to “opening high-value application scenarios for AI in the energy sector”, systematically outlining benchmark scenarios across the entire chain, from reliable supply of clean energy and safe operation of power grids to intelligent coal mining and smart oil and gas pipelines. It establishes a closed-loop management mechanism for scenario release, technology validation, and effectiveness evaluation. This demand-driven supply and scenario-driven innovation approach will effectively address the challenges of AI being “ill-suited” or “hovering in the air” within the energy sector, accelerating the transformation of technology from “usable” to “easy to use, manageable, and practical”. Meanwhile, data serves as the “fuel” for AI. The Action Plan also proposes “mining data value in the energy sector”, aiming to establish high-quality datasets, strengthen data security barriers, and activate the data factor market, thereby facilitating the conversion of energy data from resources to assets. When rich scenarios meet high-quality data, the “multiplicative effect” of AI empowering energy transformation will be fully unleashed, generating numerous replicable and scalable intelligent solutions that accelerate the evolution of energy systems towards greater efficiency, safety, and flexibility.

Building an Innovative Ecosystem

The mutual empowerment of AI and energy cannot be achieved through isolated technological breakthroughs; it requires a comprehensive ecosystem and institutional support. The Action Plan focuses on the long term, deploying measures to “build a collaborative development ecosystem for AI and energy”, covering multiple dimensions including standard systems, safety governance, international cooperation, and talent cultivation. The “AI+” energy standardization enhancement action aims to address bottlenecks such as the lack of standards and outdated standards that hinder industry collaboration, ensuring that technological integration follows established guidelines. The exploration of a safety governance system reflects a forward-looking consideration of the uncertainties and risks that technological development may bring, ensuring stable and sustainable development. The establishment of a composite talent cultivation system directly addresses the fundamental constraint of talent shortages across disciplines, laying a solid foundation for long-term development. In terms of policy support, the plan specifies concrete measures for scientific and technological breakthroughs, achievement transformation, and financial support, particularly encouraging computing power facilities to apply for real estate investment trusts in the infrastructure sector and supporting the issuance of green bonds, injecting real financial resources into industrial development. These systematic deployments aim to cultivate fertile soil for the deep integration of AI and energy, creating a good development environment that encourages innovation, tolerates failure, and is orderly regulated.

The release of the Action Plan marks a substantial step forward in promoting the collaborative development of these two strategic fields in China. This is not only a technological integration but also an innovation in development concepts and governance models. Looking ahead, as various measures take root and bear fruit, AI and energy will undoubtedly achieve mutual success and empowerment in this profound “mutual journey”, jointly constructing a smart energy system and green computing foundation that supports Chinese-style modernization, contributing unique Chinese wisdom to global energy transformation and digital economic development.