New Delhi: Electricity demand for data centres globally is projected to grow 16 per cent in 2025 and to double by 2030, according to a report on Wednesday.
Gartner analysts estimate worldwide data centre electricity consumption will rise from 448 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2025 to 980 TWh by 2030.
While conventional servers and supporting infrastructure contribute to overall data centre electricity consumption, the rapid rise of AI-optimised servers is fuelling the increase in data centre power consumption, said Linglan Wang, Research Director at Gartner.
Their electricity usage is set to rise nearly fivefold, from 93 TWh in 2025 to 432 TWh in 2030, Wang added.
AI-optimised servers are projected to represent 21 per cent of total centre power usage in 2025 and 44 per cent by 2030.
In 2030, they will represent 64 per cent of the incremental power demand for data centres, said the report.
The US and China will account for more than two-thirds of electricity demand from data centres, with China better positioned due to more power-efficient servers and superior infrastructure planning.
The U.S. data centre electricity usage is projected to rise from 4 per cent to 7.8 per cent of regional consumption between 2025 and 2030, with Europe increasing from 2.7 per cent to 5 per cent. Growth in China and Asia/Pacific is expected to be more moderate.
The current situation of fossil fuels dominating on-site power generation is not sustainable.
New clean on-site power alternatives — such as green hydrogen, geothermal and small modular reactors (SMRs) — are beginning to emerge and will become viable fuel alternatives for data centre microgrids by the end of the decade, the report noted.
In the near term, natural gas will lead as the main power source for data centres, said Tony Harvey, VP Analyst at Gartner.
However, within the next 3 to 5 years, we anticipate rapid growth in battery energy storage systems (BESS) to balance the fluctuations of solar and wind energy, he said.
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