At Computex Taipei, industry leaders gathered, sparking an AI boom across Taiwan. "AI Godfather" NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, along with AMD CEO Lisa Su, personally visited Taiwan and announced plans to set up factories and invest in the region.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs is currently estimating the additional growth in electricity demand, projecting an annual increase of at least 3%. In light of the AI boom, new power supplies will prioritize solar power. Constructing a new power plant takes at least six years, and the government will not build any more coal-fired power plants.

Addressing public concerns about AI development and electricity demand, the Ministry of Economic Affairs' top priority is to ensure a stable power supply. Currently, they have confirmed that the power supply for new factories is sufficient. The AI industry requires green energy, necessitating a significant amount of wind and solar power generation.

If the power supply plans change, should the Taiwan original 2025 energy mix target of 50% natural gas, 30% coal, and 20% renewable energy be adjusted? Minister of Economic Affairs, Chih-Hui Kuo, stated that the previous plans did not account for AI demand. Now, based on the new electricity demand, the energy mix will be re-evaluated, with a report planned to be presented before the end of this legislative session.

According to a report by The New Yorker, OpenAI's renowned chatbot ChatGPT consumes about 500,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity daily. In comparison, an average household in Taiwan consumes about 13 kWh per day during the summer, equivalent to the electricity usage of 40,000 households in the country.

If AI continues to develop rapidly, the annual electricity growth rate is expected to rise to 3%. Currently, it is estimated that by the end of next year, the power supply will be sufficient to support 5 to 6 newly established data centers.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs will release a new power supply and demand report annually at the end of June. Given the new factory establishment demands, how future AI electricity consumption will be predicted is also a matter of interest. Last year's "Power Supply and Demand Report" by the Ministry projected an average annual electricity growth of 2.03% over the next five years.

Transforming into an AI Island: Helping Businesses Achieve Net-Zero Transition

AI can boost business productivity by 20% and help reduce global GHG emissions by 5-10%. Taiwan, with its leading position in semiconductors, is one of the few countries to catch the first wave of the AI boom. It must accelerate innovative applications to increase the adoption rate of AI in the manufacturing industry to at least 50%.

Source: Environmental Information Center