Meeting the Moment to Serve an Increasingly Power-Hungry Planet

The world's demand for energy shows no sign of abating. By 2050, global energy consumption is expected to be around one-third higher than in 2022, driven by population growth, booming demand from commercial and industrial sectors to enable the growth of artificial intelligence, and higher living standards, among other factors. Electricity will form the backbone of the rapidly expanding global energy system. Widespread electrification is expected to increase power's share of total energy consumption from 23% in 2024 to approximately 43% in 2050.

GE Vernova is investing across the energy system to ensure that more communities can access affordable, reliable power, with lower carbon emissions. "We're inspired by the opportunity and are prepared to meet the moment," Chief Executive Officer Scott Strazik wrote on LinkedIn last week after attending the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

AI: The Growth Is Real

The impact of AI on society and business dominated conversations in Davos. But "intelligence only scales as fast as the electricity behind it," Strazik noted in the social media post.

Hyperscale data centers accounted for around 10% of GE Vernova's order book in 2024, but that share is projected to soar in 2026, to 25% of orders. "The growth is real," Strazik said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. "These companies need the electrons along with the data and the chip, and they're securing a lot of the long-lead equipment they need to ensure that the electrons will be there when they need them."

Gas power won't just be the engine for the AI industry, but an anchor for the grid and a catalyst of manufacturing growth. Strazik described gas as a "force multiplier" that enables economic expansion, supports the buildout of renewables and nuclear power, and allows factories making major investments to keep pace with AI-driven electricity demand.

Image credit: GE Vernova

Grid: An Investment Supercycle

The rapid growth demands greater resilience from the world's power grids as countries modernize their grids in different ways to handle rising demand and more renewables. India, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye are reinforcing grid stability to integrate renewable power without compromising reliability. Meanwhile, across Northern Europe, cross-border grid links are moving wind power efficiently between markets.

"You can't run a 21st-century economy on 20th-century infrastructure." -Scott Strazik

By doing so, they're creating an "investment supercycle" in the electricity industry, Strazik said in an interview with Fox Business. GE Vernova is responding, with its recent $5 billion acquisition of Prolec to expand its transmission and distribution capabilities, as well as major investments in grid manufacturing and grid software.

For communities, that means fewer bottlenecks, better reliability during extreme weather, and the ability to connect new sources of renewable generation without compromising on stability or cost.

Scott Strazik (right) speaks with Barron's Editor at Large Andy Serwer. Photo by Maurizio Martorana for Dow Jones

Scale Supports Sustainability

A focus on growth does not mean that decarbonization has taken a back seat. On the contrary, economies of scale will be a boon for more sustainable technologies, says Strazik. The rising demand for electricity will create the volume required to bring down the cost of advanced gas, renewables, grid upgrades, and next-generation nuclear power.

"We talk about applying the right technologies where the right resources exist," explained Strazik, citing the example of wind turbines in land-rich and windy regions. Speaking with Bloomberg TV, he also pointed to "more excitement than ever" over GE Vernova's 300-megawatt small modular nuclear reactor, the BWRX-300, noting that European customers are "seeing the build that's starting to happen in North America, and I would expect for that to follow here."

A Focus on Execution

Strazik stressed at Davos that the 21st century's boom in power demand calls for an "all of the above" approach, bringing together new solutions in AI, gas power, the grid, renewables, and nuclear, among others. GE Vernova, which works in all of these areas, is ready for this moment, he said. The order backlog for its gas turbines has nearly doubled in a year, while it has plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in factories and supply chains.

"Execution will matter more than ambition." -Scott Strazik

"We're going to win this battle, including the affordability challenge," the CEO noted. 2026, he wrote on LinkedIn, will be the year GE Vernova's teams "continue to turn ambition into execution - with speed, security, and scale."