"Planned data center construction shows no signs of fading, with new additions to require 2.7x - nearly triple - the sector's current demand for electricity over the next decade, according to a new report from BloombergNEF. By 2035, data centers will draw 106 gigawatts, up sharply from the 40 gigawatts they use today. Much of that growth will occur in more rural areas as facilities grow in size and as sites near urban areas become scarce, BloombergNEF said."
"Driving part of the growth is the sheer scale of planned data centers. Today, only 10% of data centers draw more than 50 megawatts of electricity, but over the next decade, the average new facility will draw well over 100 megawatts. The biggest sites help skew the data: Nearly a quarter will be larger than 500 megawatts, and a few will exceed 1 gigawatts."
"At the same time, the utilization rate for all data centers is expected to grow from 59% to 69% as AI training and inference grows to nearly 40% of total data center compute. AI companies have been racing to build more powerful data centers, helping to drive global investment in the facilities up to $580 billion this year. That's more than the world spends finding new supplies of oil."
Planned data center builds will increase electricity demand roughly 2.7 times, raising consumption from about 40 GW today to roughly 106 GW by 2035. Much of the expansion will occur in more rural locations as urban-adjacent sites become scarce and facility sizes grow. Average new facilities are expected to draw well over 100 megawatts, with nearly a quarter exceeding 500 megawatts and some surpassing 1 gigawatt. Utilization across centers is projected to rise from 59% to 69% as AI training and inference account for nearly 40% of compute. Global investment in facilities reached about $580 billion, and early-stage projects have more than doubled between early 2024 and early 2025.
Read at TechCrunch
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]