Brookfield Renewable (BEPC -1.83%) (BEP -1.47%) is already growing briskly. Strong demand for renewable energy combined with its ability to capitalize on acquisition opportunities has it in an excellent position to outperform its target of increasing its funds from operations (FFO) by more than 10% this year. It sees those and other catalysts continuing to power double-digit earnings growth through at least 2027. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a new catalyst that could supercharge its growth toward the end of this decade. That makes it an even better dividend stock to buy and hold for the long term. It should give Brookfield the power to grow its 4.7%-yielding dividend for many years to come.

AI needs power

AI requires significant amounts of data and computing power to generate outputs. It takes a lot of energy to run the data centers supporting AI. A single data center typically consumes the same energy as 50,000 homes. Meanwhile, AI consumes more energy than traditional computing, with a single training model using more electricity in a year than 100 homes. AI could thus power explosive demand for electricity in the future as companies deploy the technology. 

Brookfield Renewable could be a key beneficiary of surging electricity demand powered by AI. The company has deep partnerships with some of the world's leading technology companies that will probably need more power from the company in the future.

Brookfield Renewable's CEO Connor Teskey commented on the potential impact of AI on its business in his second-quarter letter to investors. He wrote: 

We are expecting demand from select large technology companies to increase by more than three times by the mid-to-latter part of this decade on the back of growth in expected generative AI computing demand. These companies are already the largest corporate procurers of green power globally, so to put this growth into context, this could see the energy load of one of these large global technology companies with a 100% renewable power target equal the current load demand of the United Kingdom.

Teskey noted that Brookfield Renewable is already discussing strategic partnerships with several technology companies to help them secure the power they need to support their AI ambitions.

Building out an enormous backlog

Brookfield is working to capitalize on the growth it sees for renewable energy development by acquiring expandable renewable energy platforms. For example, last September, the company unveiled plans to invest up to $2 billion into Scout Clean Energy and Standard Solar. Brookfield and its partners invested $1 billion into Scout with the potential to invest another $350 million to support its expansion. At the time of the deal, Scout had 1.2 GW of operating wind assets and a pipeline of over 22 GW of wind, solar, and energy storage projects. Meanwhile, it invested $540 million into Standard Solar with the potential to invest another $160 million. Standard had 500 megawatts of operating assets and almost 2 GW of projects in its development pipeline. 

These and other deals helped grow Brookfield's development pipeline to more than 134 GW at the end of the second quarter. That's more than enough power to support the home electricity use of a country the size of Canada for a year. 

Meanwhile, Brookfield has continued to secure additional expandable renewable energy platforms this year. It recently agreed to acquire Duke Energy Renewables for over $1 billion. Duke Energy's commercial renewable energy platform currently has 5.9 GW of operating assets and another 6.1 GW of projects under development. Brookfield also agreed to acquire a 50% stake in global renewable energy developer X-ELIO from its joint venture partner KKR. It has over 10 GW of projects in its development pipeline. These deals put it in an even better position to capitalize on the growing demand for renewable energy by technology companies to power AI programs. 

Enhancing an already powerful trend

The decarbonization megatrend is already driving powerful growth for Brookfield. Technology companies are leading the way, and they will probably continue securing renewable energy to support their AI ambitions. That catalyst could drive even faster growth for Brookfield in the coming years, giving it plenty of power to achieve its dividend growth target. It makes the company an even more attractive long-term investment opportunity for dividend investors.