Nordic sustainability briefing: electrification, El Niño impacts and AI power demand
Renewables-driven electrification, El Niño's strains on ecosystems and power systems, and the grid demands of AI data centres dominate today's stories, alongside fresh funding routes—EU LIFE grants and Denmark's Erhvervspuljen—that could support Nordic businesses pursuing energy and climate projects.
IRENA outlook: electricity should reach 35% of final energy use by 2035
IRENA's 2026 World Energy Transition Outlook, released on 13 October, says electrification powered by renewables must be the priority to 2035. It puts electricity at 35% of final energy consumption by 2035 and over 50% by 2050, with installed renewable capacity rising from 5.2 TW to about 38.2 TW by 2050. The 35%-by-2035 figure matches a goal the COP31 host has promoted, which was reported to rest on IRENA analysis.
'Super' El Niño draws ecologists to track ecosystem effects; IEA flags power-system risks
Science reports that ecologists are mobilising to protect threatened species and track how ecosystems respond to record heat during this year's strong El Niño. Separately, the IEA's mid-year electricity update cautioned that a stronger-than-expected El Niño could raise cooling demand while reducing hydropower and wind output in some regions.
IEA publishes report on integrating data centres into electricity systems
On 14 October the IEA released a technology report titled 'Powering Artificial Intelligence', on strategies for integrating data centres into electricity systems. Its earlier Electricity 2026 analysis estimated that data centres account for about half of US demand growth to 2030, and that over 2,500 GW of projects, including those with large loads such as data centres, are stalled in grid-connection queues worldwide. The findings of the new report itself were not available in the material reviewed.
EU LIFE programme awards €390 million to 135 projects, including Finnish and Danish ones
The LIFE Programme has granted €390 million to 135 new climate, nature, circular-economy and clean-energy projects, 9% more EU funding than in 2025. Among them are a project on remanufacturing forest machinery in Finland and investment in green district heating and cooling in Croatia and Denmark.
Danish Erhvervspuljen offers grants of up to 50% for business energy-saving projects
The Danish Energy Agency's Erhvervspuljen is a DKK 3.5 billion grant pool running to 2029. It covers up to 50% of costs for projects that save energy or CO2 from energy-related emissions, and both small and large private firms in most sectors can apply. The agency says a survey found the application process has become easier to understand for small and medium-sized firms after simplification.