Published on: 2026-06-06
Source: Rosneft – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The Secretary of the Commission under the President of the Russian Federation on the issues of strategy for the development of the fuel and energy complex and environmental safety, Igor Sechin, noted the key role of metals, especially copper and rare earth elements, in the construction of a modern type energy system.
“Metals are also critically important for the development of a new type of energy system. Demand for them in power generation, electric transport, and power grids will grow more than twice by 2050. Consumption increase may reach almost two hundred million tons. However, resources are limited,” Sechin said, speaking at the Energy Panel within the XXIX St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Meanwhile, according to Igor Sechin, the key metal for the “new” economy is copper, the consumption of which in electrical networks may increase by 65% by 2040 and exceed seven million tons, which is equal to a quarter of the total consumption of this metal at the moment.
“According to forecasts, in the next 20 years it will be necessary to extract a volume of copper comparable to the production of the previous ten thousand years,” added the secretary of the TEC Commission. According to experts’ estimates, the deficit of this metal by 2050 may amount to around 40%.
Igor Sechin also noted that access to metals is critically important for the defense industry, especially when it comes to rare earth elements. As an example, he gave the F-35 fighter jet, which contains more than 400 kg of such elements, as well as the Virginia-class nuclear submarine, which requires more than 4 tons.
As an additional limitation, Sechin noted access to water. In the USA, a data processing center with a capacity of 100 megawatts requires about 2 million liters of water per day. This level of consumption is equivalent to that of six and a half thousand households. By 2030, water consumption by data processing centers may almost double,” noted Igor Sechin.
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PJSC “NK “Rosneft”
June 6, 2026
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