Belgium mulls energy limits for power-hungry data centres as AI demand surges

Core Insights - Belgium's grid operator, Elia, is considering setting an electricity allocation limit for data centres to ensure other industrial users are not adversely affected by the rising demand from energy-intensive facilities powering AI [1][2] - The demand for energy from data centres in Belgium has surged, with requests increasing nine-fold since 2022, leading to reserved capacity for 2034 exceeding the planned 8 terawatt-hours [4] - Google plans to invest €5 billion ($5.80 billion) in Belgium to expand its data centre campuses in support of its AI strategy [5] Industry Developments - Elia's proposed reforms would categorize data centres separately, allowing for specific grid capacity allocation while maintaining flexible connections during grid congestion [1][2] - The upcoming 2028–2038 federal grid development plan will address the evolution of data centre consumption, with particular attention from the energy minister during the approval process [4][5] - The rapid increase in data centre energy requests highlights the need to prevent speculative developments from blocking essential grid capacity [4]