UAE Weighs Energy Efficiency Ratings for Data Centres as AI Power Demand Soars

Sharif Al Olama, Under-Secretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs at the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, made the comments in an interview with Euronews on the sidelines of the ADIPEC energy exhibition in Abu Dhabi, according to an account published by the Dubai newspaper Al Bayan. He called the rapid growth of AI data centres a global problem for energy planners that Europe also faces as it builds its own capacity. In his view, demand is no longer growing exponentially but almost vertically, Al Bayan reported.

The remarks matter because the UAE is trying to become a major host of AI computing while also positioning itself as an energy exporter. A rating system would give the government a way to judge new hyperscale sites on efficiency as well as on capacity.

Al Olama said the UAE's response starts with efficiency. He cited cases in which AI tools themselves had cut energy use at some data centres by 40%. After that come planning for expansion, cooling systems and making use of existing infrastructure. He said the country was planning properly for the challenge. On what Europe could learn from the UAE, he described it as an exchange between governments that learn from each other, not a matter of one teaching the other.

The ministry has been working on this for some time. In January, Al Olama told the state news agency WAM that the ministry was assessing technologies to improve energy efficiency in hyperscale data centres. He said it was working with the UAE's AI Council on standards for classifying such facilities, including energy efficiency criteria.

The UAE currently has about 8.2 gigawatts of solar generating capacity, with plans to raise it to 20 gigawatts and beyond, Al Olama said. He added that the country produces some of the cheapest renewable electricity in the world, with large projects due to come online over the next few years. The solar expansion supports the UAE's target of climate neutrality by 2050, the same deadline the European Union has set. This week the International Energy Agency forecast that the UAE will lead the world in solar output per person by 2031.

Al Olama also said UAE oil exports continued without interruption during the months of regional crisis. He credited a long-standing decision to spread the country's energy mix across nuclear, renewables and fossil fuels, along with work on hydrogen and other future fuels. He said investment in alternative export routes had kept oil flowing to international customers, and that lessons from the period were being built into the design of facilities under construction and into backup reserves across the system.

AI featured more heavily than in past years at this year's ADIPEC, which closed with $67 billion in agreements, according to organisers. They included a deal between ADNOC, OpenAI and G42. Al Olama did not say when a data centre rating scheme might be introduced or which body would run it.