ADIPEC Day Two Shifts Focus to Grids and Supply Chains as AI Lifts Power Demand

The organisers summed up the day's message this way: meeting future demand depends on building resilient networks, diversifying supply chains and developing the operating capability to deliver energy reliably at scale, and not only on producing more.

Supply Chains After Disruption

Siemens Energy president and chief executive Christian Bruch said resilient energy systems need a clearer view of three things: local manufacturing capability, strategic storage needs, and how global supply chains can serve local demand when logistics break down. "There are new criteria emerging in the design of our energy systems," he said, adding that the region "will be the first and leading region in building resilient energy systems."

Lorenzo Simonelli, chairman and chief executive of Baker Hughes, said in a CEO panel on recent disruptions that companies should keep looking for weak points across supply chains and logistics and line up second, third and even fourth sources of supply. "You cannot afford to be dependent on single choke points," he said.

Speaking in a ministerial panel on aligning national energy strategies, Egypt's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, said no single country or company could deliver the extra energy the world needs on its own. He described collaboration and partnership as "the essence of unlocking these opportunities."

AI as Load and as Tool

AI came up both as a source of new demand and as a way to manage it. Schneider Electric chief executive Olivier Blum said that years of investment in digital technology, now combined with AI, are helping utilities and operators match supply to demand and use energy more efficiently. "We have to increase electricity generation. We do not really have a choice, as demand continues to rise," he said, pointing to industrial electrification, expanding cities and wider use of electric cars.

In a session on planning infrastructure for AI-driven demand, AVEVA chief executive Caspar Herzberg said AI infrastructure is being built very quickly while other resources and infrastructure are developing more slowly. He called this "more as a question of coordination than simply one of speed."

The exhibition has 30 country pavilions and four specialised zones. Closed-door Strategic Leadership Roundtables in the Global Energy Club covered infrastructure delivery, raising capital and keeping supply continuous. According to WAM, the third day will focus on how AI, automation and advanced analytics can make energy infrastructure smarter, more efficient and more resilient.

Why It Matters

The discussions match a theme heard across this week's event in Abu Dhabi. The energy industry increasingly sees the limit on AI growth in the networks and equipment that carry power to data centres, not in generation alone. For investors and operators in the Gulf, the focus on storage, local manufacturing and multiple supply routes also reflects the lessons of this year's Strait of Hormuz disruption, which several speakers referred to as recent disruption in the sector.

ADIPEC 2026, hosted by ADNOC, runs until 5 November. WAM said organisers expect more than 239,000 attendees from over 170 countries, along with more than 2,250 exhibiting companies and about 1,800 speakers.