In this PERSPECTIVES Special – The new age of electricity: Geopolitics, the role of the state and new technologies, we explore how a new age of electricity is already reshaping the global economic and geopolitical landscape – transforming energy from a commodity into a strategic infrastructure asset. Driven not only by decarbonisation but also by geopolitical fragmentation, state intervention, and a race for clean technologies, this transition is complex and non-linear. As electricity demand accelerates well beyond headline drivers, we examine where investment, infrastructure, and technological leadership are likely to concentrate – and why the answers may challenge conventional assumptions
Key takeaways
- For governments, electrification can be seen as a geopolitical strategy given problems associated with hydrocarbon production concentration and transport: hence we see an increasing distinction between electrostates and petrostates (e.g., the US).
- AI is taking a rising proportion of global electricity supply, but demand here is highly regionally concentrated (around hyperscalers). Structural electrification looks likely to give a much bigger boost to electricity demand than AI. Infrastructure age is another driver of investment.
- We look at cost/technological issues around renewable power, energy storage, grid flexibility, electrification of transport, heating and industrial processes, hydrogen and nuclear.