Business
The Iran War Has Rocked Energy. 5 Ways the Industry Is Changing. — Barrons.com
The Iran War Has Rocked Energy. 5 Ways the Industry Is Changing. — Barrons.com
About this update from Saipem S.p.a.
By Avi SalzmanThe war in Iran and the enormous electricity needs of data centers are transforming the global energy system, often in surprising ways. Consumers in several countries are desperate to buy appliances and vehicles that can free them from fossil fuel dependence, while governments are looking to all sorts of old and new energy sources to protect their citizens — that means more coal, nuclear and solar power in the future.The International Energy Agency released a sweeping global energy investment report on Thursday that detailed the changes.Here are five takeaways:1. Early statistics show the war has spurred explosive demand for electric vehicles and other energy sources that don't use fossil fuels. Latin America's EV sales surged 75% in the first quarter year-over-year, while Asia's grew 80%. Europe's were up 30%. China's exports of solar equipment to Africa jumped 120%, and soared 150% to Southeast Asia. Sales of heat pumps in Europe rose 17%, despite countries having scaled back on incentives to buy them. And in India, which depends on liquefied petroleum gas for cooking, there's been a huge surge of interest in electric induction stoves. The IEA estimated that induction stove sales were 10 to 15 times higher in the first quarter of 2026 as compared with the first quarter of 2025.2. Renewables aren't the only beneficiaries. Investments in coal supplies are on track to hit $180 billion this year, their highest level since 2012. China accounts for 70% of that spending, with India in second. It's not yet clear if the trend will spread elsewhere, but it's clearly helping boost global coal prices, which are up 31% this year.3. The data center boom is fundamentally reshaping natural gas markets. Global orders for new natural gas-fired power plants jumped to a 25-year high of 130 gigawatts in 2025. The vast majority of the new plants are headed for the U.S. In fact, spending on new natural gas power plants designed to serve U.S. data centers is higher than spending on natural gas power plants in any other entire country. The data center boom is so enormous it may end up pulling demand away from one of America's fastest-growing industries — liquefied natural gas exports. Given the demand for new natural gas plants from the U.S. and the Middle East, countries elsewhere that depend on imported natural gas for basic power have limited access to new natu...