Power use of data centres in Russia to more than triple this decade: Putin

Moscow, Nov 20 (LatestNewsX) Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the power consumption of data centres will more than triple in the current decade and the country will build more nuclear power units.

“The most important and fundamental task is to ensure the constant, stable and reliable supply of large volumes of energy to data centres,” Putin said at the “AI Journey” conference in Moscow on Wednesday.

“Therefore, plans for their location must be closely aligned with the further development of the entire national energy infrastructure, including advanced, modern and eco-friendly coal-fired power generation, as well as other clean energy sources such as nuclear power,” he said.

Putin noted that Russia will continue building data centres at existing nuclear power plant sites, reports Xinhua.

“As for forward-looking initiatives, within less than two decades, we plan to construct 38 nuclear power units, primarily in the Urals, Siberia, and the Russian Far East,” he said. “Their combined capacity will be practically equal to our current nuclear power generation capacity.”

Putin emphasised in his speech that, by various estimates, the development of AI is likely one of the largest technological undertakings in history.

“The primary focus of investments lies in expanding computing power and generating additional gigawatts of energy; this energy is crucial for the reliable operation of the entire growing digital infrastructure,” he stated.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Russian President also took part via video link in the keel-laying ceremony for the nuclear-powered icebreaker Stalingrad at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg, TASS news agency reported.

Speaking at the ceremony, Putin outlined Russia’s strategic priorities in the Arctic, emphasising the need to strengthen the country’s long-term presence in the region.

He said that it is important to fully unlock the country’s logistical potential and ensure the development of a promising trans-Arctic transport corridor from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok.

int/sd/