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ARTICLE · 03 NOVEMBER 2025

Data Centres And Artificial Intelligence: A Growing Opportunity For Canadian Nuclear Power?

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The International Energy Agency (IEA) released a special report about "Energy and AI" in 2025. The report focuses on the consequences of the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI)...

CanadaEnergy and Natural Resources
Dierk Ullrich
Dierk Ullrich
Jean-Philippe Therriault
Jean-Philippe Therriault
Ian W. Palm
Ian W. Palm
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The International Energy Agency (IEA) released a special report about "Energy and AI" in 2025. The report focuses on the consequences of the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) in the global energy sector, specifically electricity. Among the mix of energy sources needed to deliver the uninterrupted power supply that data centres need to support AI, there are established clean energy technologies such as wind, solar, and hydropower. Canada can also supply nuclear power, including emerging technologies like small modular reactors (SMRs).

The report notes that on a global basis "data centre electricity consumption has grown by around 12% per year since 2017, more than four times faster than the rate of total electricity consumption." The IEA estimates that, by 2035, more than 900 terawatt hours (TWh) in new electricity generation will be needed to support the growing power demand of data centres. Half of the global growth is expected to be met by

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