Global Scans · Affordable and Clean Energy · Weekly Summary

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In September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030.
Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

• [New] Turkey will still require at least eight additional reactors and 5 GW of small modular reactors to bolster its energy security and guarantee affordable electricity. Caliber.az
• [New] The Akkuyu facility, a $20 billion project with a planned capacity of 4.8 gigawatts across four reactors, will make Turkey one of the few countries to generate civil nuclear energy. Caliber.az
• [New] Green Data Centers and Energy-Efficient Hardware In 2025, we can expect significant advances in sustainable IT infrastructure. TotalCare IT
• [New] Gigawatt-scale data centers powered by 24/7 solar energy could be operating in orbit within 10 to 20 years. Grand Pinnacle Tribune
• [New] The total fund secured for renewable energy in Ireland's national budget plan for 2026 amounts to €1.1 billion. Electricity Info
• [New] Solar panel installer jobs are projected to grow by 22% from 2023 to 2033, reflecting the shift towards solar energy. AFA Education Blog
• [New] Energy solution provider Ameresco will partner with the US Navy and CyrusOne to construct a 100 MW AI-optimized data center at Naval Air Station Lemoore. DataCenterKnowledge
• [New] Hitachi Energy plans to invest $1 billion in enhancing energy grid production. DataCenterKnowledge
• [New] Space-based solar power offers the potential for uninterrupted, 24/7 clean electricity generation by harvesting solar energy in orbit and transmitting it to Earth via microwave or laser technology. Yahoo Finance
• [New] Renewable energy sources, including solar, wind and hydropower, are forecast to meet over 90% of the global electricity demand growth through 2030. ABC News
• [New] Renewable energy consumption in the transportation sector is expected to rise 50% by 2030. ABC News
• [New] If progress continues, nuclear power could soon play a more significant role in America's energy supply. Yahoo News
• [New] State energy firm Sonatrach aimed to reduce gas flaring to less than 1% by 2030, supported by a large-scale afforestation project covering 520,000 hectares.
• [New] Global renewables could more than double by the end of the decade, with 80% of new clean energy capacity expected to come from solar power. The Guardian
• [New] The clean energy transition is dramatically increasing competition for limited resources, with demand for lithium projected to increase by 4000% by 2040 according to International Energy Agency forecasts. Discovery Alert
• [New] Applications could include AI data centers, whose electricity consumption the International Energy Authority expects to more than double over the next five years, but also remote towns and safety-critical transportation hubs. MIT Technology Review
• [New] California is pursuing hydrogen in addition to renewables such as offshore wind, solar power and geothermal energy to help diversify its supply, meet growing demand driven by artificial intelligence data centers, and reach its target of 100% carbon neutrality by 2045. Los Angeles Times
• [New] AI data centers are extraordinarily power-hungry, contributing to a projected doubling of electricity demand by 2030, raising alarms about an energy crisis. FinancialContent
• During the 2025 HCC, teams will either develop solutions to convert non-powered dams to hydroelectric dams that can produce between 100 kilowatts and 10 megawatts of power or assess closed-loop pumped storage hydropower systems that can provide between 8 and 24 hours of energy storage. Energy.gov
• Data centers could account for up to 21% of overall global energy demand by 2030 when the cost of delivering AI to customers is factored in. MIT Sloan
• The International Energy Agency backs the urgency: HVAC systems alone gobble 10% of global emissions, but targeted AI could trim that waste dramatically by 2030. PanKri

Last updated: 12 October 2025