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ABU DHABI / WAM
ADNOC, Masdar and XRG, today convened over 100 global leaders from the energy, technology, investment and government sectors at the ENACT Majlis in Abu Dhabi to advance the integrated solutions needed to ignite the twin engines of energy and artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate global growth.
The ENACT Majlis, hosted by Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO, explored opportunities to drive innovative solutions to maintain secure, accessible, sustainable supplies across the energy mix that ensure reliable baseload energy is available to power AI growth and meet the needs of an increasing world population.
Discussions focused on meeting energy demand growth in evolving market dynamics and building infrastructure at scale and pace through integrated approaches. Leaders also addressed the skills and pro-growth policies needed to attract and derisk the capital needed to meet combined AI and energy investment needs.
Acting as a high-level cross sector think tank, the ENACT – Energy in Action – Majlis heard electricity demand for data centers will quadruple by 2040, increasing from 105 to 450GW. In the same 15-year period, 1.5 billion people will move into cities using an additional 2 billion electric powered air conditioners. And many of them will fly for the first time, with the global airline fleet doubling from 25,000 to 50,000 planes. A White Paper setting out the key findings of the majlis was expected to be published on Sunday.
Dr. Al Jaber said: “Energy and AI are the twin engines that have the potential to turbo-charge socioeconomic growth, but energy intensive data centers are competing for energy alongside multiple demand drivers in an increasingly complex world. The sheer scale of the demand requires investment, at scale, today, because the future won’t wait for us to catch up.
And if we are going to meet the needs of data centers, along with everything else, we are going to need energy, tech and investment sectors working together with governments.
“On energy, we need an and-and approach with reliable baseload energy key. Infrastructure needs to be modernized and there needs to be more of it. You can’t run tomorrow’s economy on yesterday’s grid. Furthermore, regulations must incentivize, not inhibit investment and we need to invest in an AI enabled workforce. ENACT was created precisely for moments like these. Moments when complex challenges require collaborative solutions across sectors and borders.”
To date three ENACT Majlis have been held. The first edition, held in Abu Dhabi in November 2024, focused on connecting the dots between energy, technology, policy and finance to address the surge in demand driven by AI and seize the opportunities at the energy-AI nexus. The second majlis, held in June in Washington DC, focused on data center growth in the United States, the world’s largest economy, where over one-third of new global data centers will be built by 2030.
The latest ENACT Majlis follows the release of a joint report by ADNOC and Microsoft “Powering Possible: Unleashing AI for Energy and Energy for AI” informed by insights from prominent thought leaders in technology, energy and finance. The report focuses on the interplay of AI for Energy and Energy for AI.
Held under the Chatham House rule to encourage open and honest dialogue by creating a trusted environment where people can speak freely without public attribution, the ENACT Majlis is rooted in the longstanding Emirati tradition of open, bold and solutions-orientated discussions. It reinforces Abu Dhabi’s role in shaping the future of energy, technology, and investment, unlocking opportunities for sustainable growth. It took place ahead of ADIPEC, the world’s largest and most influential energy industry event, being held in Abu Dhabi from November 3-6.
Participants at the ENACT Majlis included: Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure; Secretary Doug Burgum, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior; Jurabek Mirzamahmudov, Minister of Energy, Republic of Uzbekistan; Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy; Dep. Sec. James Danly, Deputy Secretary of U.S. Department of Energy; Dr. Abdulla Al Jarwan, Chairman, Abu Dhabi Department of Energy; Andrew Feldman, CEO and Co-Founder, Cerebras Systems; Arthur Mensch, CEO and Co-founder, Mistral AI; Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President, Microsoft Corporation; Bruce Flatt, CEO and Chair of the Board, Brookfield Asset Management; Claudio Descalzi, CEO, Eni; Darren Woods Chair and CEO, ExxonMobil; Dong Sub Kim, President and CEO, Korea National Oil Corporation; Eric Cantor, Vice Chairman and MD, Moelis; Jason Liu, CEO, Wood Mackenzie; Jake Loosararian, Co-Founder and CEO, Gecko Robotics; Ken Dillon, President, International Oil and Gas Operation, OXY; Murray Auchincloss, CEO, bp; Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO, TotalEnergies; Takayuki Ueda, President and CEO, INPEX; and Tony O. Elumelu, Chairperson, United Bank for Africa.