The “Energy Impass” of Digitalization: Risks for the National Economy

The subject of the study is the increasing shortage of energy supply for new formats of digitalization of socio-economic life. The purpose of the work is to identify the risks of digitalization energy supply and ways to minimize them. The features of mass digitalization in the context of ever-increasing energy consumption are considered, the current directions of digitalization are identified, and its impact on the increase in aggregate demand for electricity and its growth prospects are assessed. Methods of critical, statistical, and comparative analysis were used to find arguments for solving the tasks set. As a result of the study, the hypothesis was confirmed that the considered model of the future development of the national economy based on digitalization has a high vulnerability. Its current risks have been identified — a decrease in the energy efficiency of new digital technologies, an increasing level of resource costs, and a negative environmental effect. It is concluded that significant investments in new technological developments are necessary to minimize the critical risks of digitalization, taking into account the reduction of costs for the production, distribution and consumption of electricity, which should contribute to the development of energy-efficient digital technologies without increasing the shortage of electricity and devastating damage to the environment. The solution to this problem will require the development of appropriate measures of the state’s energy policy, aimed, among other things, at decarbonization of the electricity generation industry.

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