Mike Stark, who recently assumed the role of President, has sounded a timely alarm. He cautions that the UK’s National Grid may soon struggle to meet the insatiable energy demands of AI and its supporting systems.

The 62-year-old director of Data Cabling and Networks at Member firm OCS M&E Services joins a growing number of experts who have warned about the new technology’s huge appetite for electricity, often greater than many small countries use in a year.

He also raised a crucial question about the readiness of the UK’s current electrical infrastructure.

In the face of the predicted surge in demand, particularly from the energy-hungry data centres supporting AI and the increasing number of EV charging units, he warned of potential strain and its implications.

Mike said: “AI is becoming more embedded in our everyday lives, from digital assistants and chatbots helping us on websites to navigation apps and autocorrect on our mobile phones. And it is going to become even more prevalent shortly.

“Data centres, which have many servers as their main components, need electrical power to survive. It is, therefore, only natural that any talk about building a data centre should begin with figuring out the electrical needs and how to satisfy those power requirements.”

Mike said that it is estimated that there could be 1.5 million AI servers by 2027. Running at full capacity, these would consume between 85 and 134 terawatt-hours per year – roughly equivalent to the current energy demands of countries like the Netherlands and Sweden.