FILE PHOTO: Power lines are silhouetted against the sky near the Oi thermal power station of Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc. in Tokyo January 26, 2009. REUTERS/Stringer/File PhotoTOKYO : Japan envisages the need for electricity output to rise 35 per cent to 50 per cent by 2050 due to growing demand from semiconductor plants and data centres backing artificial intelligence , the government has forecast.
The increase in demand would be the first in 20 years and requires large-scale investments in power sources, the document said. Japan, which relies heavily on the Middle East for fossil fuel supplies, last year passed a law aimed at promoting decarbonisation investments totalling more than 150 trillion yen in the public and private sectors over 10 years.