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Power-hungry AI risks tipping millions into “energy poverty” unless investors pour more money into renewables, according to Chinese wind turbine magnate Zhang Lei, who argued that the case for clean energy was now driven by mathematics rather than climate change.
“We have to build this renewable energy system, not just because of the climate crisis,” he told the FT. “It’s because of long-term prosperity.”
Zhang, the founder of Envision, predicted global electricity demand would rise as much as 10-fold over the next decade, while fossil fuels would become progressively more expensive to extract as supplies are depleted, risking higher energy bills unless more wind and solar farms are developed.
“For this AI revolution, lots of people may end up with energy poverty,” he said . . . “If we think long-term, we need a renewable energy system that is infinite, inexpensive and trained by AI.
“This is just mathematics. It is so simple even my eight-year-old daughter can figure it out.”
Competition for energy from AI had already pushed up electricity bills in some parts of the US by as much as 50 per cent, he claimed.
Forecasts from the International Energy Agency suggest that the electricity use of data centres will grow by 15 per cent a year to 2030, putting it on course to make up 3 per cent of the world’s total power consumption.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, the average residential bill in Virginia — a state that has become a favoured destination for data centres — rose 13 per cent in 2025 and is up about 30 per cent from 2021 levels.
The Trump administration in January said it would take action to make sure the development of AI did not hit bills. However, the White House has also moved to stymie the rollout of renewable energy in the US.
Envision has started building data centres itself in China and plans to build emission-free data centres around the world. Zhang insisted he was “very bullish” on how much energy AI will require.
“AI will be the largest consumer of energy in our history,” said Zhang, speaking as he received the Energy Institute’s President’s Award in London this month, adding that previous uses of energy, such as light, transport and heating, were limited by population size.
By contrast, there is “no limit” to the amount of computing power that AI will need. “We are just using AI to model our language, but what about if we use AI to model the universe, or our weather system, or our bodies?” he asked. “More energy will make AI smarter, and smarter AI will need more energy. This is a self-fulfilling closed loop.”
Envision, which also has battery and green hydrogen divisions, and owns the UK’s only electric car battery gigafactory in Sunderland, is working to embed AI technology throughout its products. “They will understand weather patterns, the energy market, when it is going to be more expensive, and grid stability,” Zhang said.
He denied that this AI layer would be a potential security concern in countries outside of China, noting that AI is already embedded into consumer electronics and saying there could be appropriate safeguards.