UK government to balance energy sustainability with AI growth demand

Now, the government is focusing on ensuring that its commitment to positioning Britain as a superpower in artificial intelligence (AI), does not come at a cost to the environment or energy security of the nation. The newly formed AI Energy Council in the UK will be responsible for managing this delicate balance, while also exploring how AI can be deployed throughout the UK’s entire energy network during its first meeting today (8th April 2025). The first meeting of the council will be led by both technology secretary Peter Kyle, and energy secretary Ed Miliband. Its goal is to establish how industry and government can collaborate in order to build a sustainable AI economy. “The AI Energy Council’s work will ensure that we are not only powering our AI requirements to deliver new opportunities in all parts the country, but also in a responsible and sustainable way,” said Kyle.

This requires a wide range of expertise from both industry and regulators, as we fire up UK’s economy to make it ready for the age AI – so we can deliver the economic growth that is at the heart of our Plan for Change.

According to Miliband, “AI can play a key role in building the new era of clean energy for our country. This council will help secure sustainable scale-up that will benefit businesses and communities throughout the UK.”

Representatives of Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Microsoft and Nvidia will also attend to share their opinions on how to build hyperscale AI Datacentres which are energy-efficient and water-efficient. Alison Kay, vice president for the UK and Ireland of AWS, said that the public cloud giant’s views on meeting the growing demand for AI technology in a sustainable way are very similar to what the AI Energy Council wants to achieve.

As the world’s biggest corporate purchaser of renewables for the fifth consecutive year, we share the goal of the government to ensure that the UK has enough access to carbon-free electricity to support its AI goals and to help drive the economy,” she said.

The news of the council’s formation was first announced in 2025 as part of the response of the government to the AI Opportunities Action Plan. This included a promise to create AI Growth Zones that would house AI workloads in order to accelerate the pace in this field. Computer Weekly reported at the time that there were concerns about the environmental impact of increasing the UK’s AI footprint and how the National Grid could cope with a surge of facilities drawing electricity from it.

The UK government has responded by confirming that the AI growth zone will be located in areas with at least 500MW power. Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley said that AI will play a growing role in transforming the energy system into one that is cleaner, more efficient, and more cost-effective. But only if it is used in a fair and secure way.

By working with other members of the council, Ofgem will make sure AI implementation puts customer interests first. This includes everything from infrastructure planning to customer service.

by Caroline Donnelly.