AI Needs Big Electricity, Envision Builds Data Center in the Desert

The surge in AI electricity demand is driving the development of renewable energy-based data centers in desert regions. Envision Group is targeting 5 gigawatt capacity by 2030. (Illustration: AI.)

JAKARTA - Chinese green technology company Envision Group is preparing a 5 gigawatt green AI computing center project in the world's desert areas, including the Gobi Desert, by 2030.

According to a report by China Daily quoted on Friday, June 19, the plan was announced at the VivaTech event in Paris. Envision said this project is aimed at building a stable, environmentally friendly, and more cost-effective AI infrastructure.

Electricity needs are a major issue in the AI explosion. Large language models and increasingly sophisticated semiconductor chips make global data centers require a larger, more stable, and faster regulated electricity supply.

"As the AI computing storm sweeps the world, traditional power grids find it difficult to bear the burden of this transformation," said Envision Group Chairman Zhang Lei.

Zhang said Envision would start in the Gobi Desert before bringing its AI power system to the global market.

"Starting from the Gobi Desert, Envision is bringing its AI power system to the world, offering a Chinese solution to overcome the electricity barriers faced by the artificial intelligence era," he said.

A data center is a facility containing servers and computing devices to store, process, and stream data. In the AI era, data centers are the main machines that work continuously and require large electricity.

China Daily reported that the rapid development of large language models and advanced semiconductor chips puts great pressure on global data centers. These facilities require large network access capacity, faster supply arrangements, stable power sources, and a larger share of renewable energy.

To answer this need, Envision has prepared three main capabilities. First, physical artificial intelligence. Second, an "intelligent center" that functions like a nervous system for the AI power grid. Third, a new generation of more powerful electrical infrastructure.