COAL OUTLOOK
Khanye Colliery’s coal processing plant in Bronkhorstspruit, Gauteng province.
When AI comes to claim its pound of flesh, coal power will be there By Vuslat Bayoglu, Managing Director of Menar.
The list of reasons for the world to generate more electricity is growing at a faster pace than energy supply can be scaled up. With the exponential rise of data centres driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI), it has become apparent that the world should expect an even greater increase in electricity demand going forward.
T he International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that data centre electricity consumption will more than double to almost 1000 TWh within less than a decade from now. In leading data centre markets, especially in the US, grids are already
Business, entrepreneur and venture capitalist Kevin
O’Leary emphasised that energy security was key to maintaining America’s AI dominance. “It’s all about AI and data centres. The country that has energy, has AI, has the economy, has productivity, and eventually is superior in warfare,” O’Leary stated. China has developed sophisticated AI ecosystems not only to catch up with the US, but to ultimately surpass its Western rival as the global leader in AI. Beijing has invested heavily in coal power while increasing its renewables capacity. In the first half of 2025, 21 GW of new coal power was commissioned in China, which is the highest since 2016. The global AI race is directly
strained. Now more than ever, the world needs to double down on securing reliable power and affordable resources. To function, data centres require large amounts of electricity to be available around the clock. Shortly after assuming office, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order, declaring the return of
It’s all about AI and data centres. The country that has energy, has AI, has the economy, has productivity, and eventually is superior in warfare.
“Beautiful Clean Coal” to the country after years of declining use. He also instructed federal agencies to use coal to power AI data centres. Commenting on America’s energy trade relations with neighbouring Canada, in a television interview with Fox
connected to the electricity supply. India, ranked among the world’s top ten countries in the global AI race, is also the world’s
18 MODERN MINING www.modernminingmagazine.co.za | February 2026
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