Larry Fink: "And to power these data companies, you cannot have just this intermittent power…"

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink recently remarked at the World Economic Forum in Davos that solar and wind power are insufficient to meet the constant electricity demands of data centres, arguing that reliable, dispatchable energy sources are essential because computing facilities cannot be switched on and off. His comment comes amid a dispute in Australia, where the Northern Territory government is backing a $40 billion data-centre project powered by natural gas from the Betaloo Basin, while the federal government proposes rules requiring such centres to use only new renewable energy. Energy ministers are set to debate the issue this week, as Australia’s data-centre electricity consumption is forecast to rise sharply, and investment in large-scale renewables recently dropped by 50% to a ten-year low.