The US is on the cusp of a natural gas power plant construction boom, as Big Tech turns to fossil fuels to meet the huge electricity needs of the artificial intelligence revolution — putting climate targets in peril.
As many as 80 new gas-fired power plants will be built in the US by 2030, said energy consultancy Enverus, adding 46 gigawatts of capacity — the size of the electricity system in Norway and nearly 20 per cent more than was added in the past five years.
The capacity surge is expected to unfold during the second term of Donald Trump, who has vowed to keep fossil fuels at the centre of the US economy, and signals a reversal of earlier forecasts for natural gas capacity to fall in the next five years.