Data center power demand surges 26% in 2026 as AI workloads push grid supply to breaking point

Datacenter growth may run into a power wall by 2030

Grid operators could struggle to support new bit barn construction Energy consumed by datacenters is set to grow 26 percent this year thanks to AI, and grid supply may be unable to keep pace with demand by 2030, Gartner warns. The research giant expects global datacenter electricity consumption to reach 565 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2026, as power demand rises from 104 GW in 2025 to 132 GW this year. This is higher than the 500 TWh per year Gartner estimated two years ago that AI-optimized servers would consume by 2027. And as everyone knows by now, the culprit is the ballooning requirement for compute power to drive AI workloads, as fear of missing out (FOMO) drives otherwise sensible companies to throw money at AI projects, despite seldom seeing much of any return on their investment. In fact, Gartner notes that AI-optimized servers are what continue to fuel the increase in datacenter power consumption. This has been reported before, with hyperscalers and other buyers funneling much of their server budgets into heavily configured systems to meet the requirements of AI processing. Now, the firm estimates that AI-optimized servers will account for 31 percent of all datacenter power consumption this year, and that, by next year, their combined power consumption will surpass that of all conventional servers in operation. This matches up with earlier forecasts that AI was on track to overtake all other server workloads - such as databases and analytics - and become the top workload by server deployment by 2027. But this continued expansion points to a worrying forecast. Total datacenter electricity consumption is estimated by Gartner to pass 1,200 TWh by 2030, and it says that grid supply may be insufficient to support additional datacenter capacity. There have been earlier warnings about the bit barn energy demands outpacing the capacity of the grid to deliver. Goldman Sachs estimated that their combined energy use would more than double by the end of the decade, but if Gartner's figures are correct, demand is already higher than where that report estimated it would be for 2027. Energy infrastructure biz Schneider Electric also published four scenarios for future electricity consumption by AI datacenters at the start of last year, but Gartner's latest estimate for total datacenter electricity demand in 2030 surpasses even Schneider's most aggressive forecast. Power grid operators and datacenter developers in the US in particular are in a bind, as The Register reported recently, and energy analysts can't see an easy way out. "Surging demand for compute-intensive AI workloads is driving unprecedented datacenter power growth, while AI capacity is now constrained by power availability, making datacenter power security the new battle ground for scaling and protecting margins in the global AI race," commented Gartner director analyst Linglan Wang. But can anything be done to mitigate this coming power apocalypse? "Infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders must prioritize efficiency upgrades and secure grid access. They also need to invest in high-efficiency cooling systems and edge computing to mitigate power constraints and ensure sustainable, scalable growth," Wang said, helpfully. ®

Could data center growth halt by 2030? Report claims power demands may halt AI advances within the next few years

* Gartner study suggests AI data center power requirements will grow by 26% in 2026 * This is a 13% increase over an earlier forecast which capped growth at 500TWh. * AI data centers currently account for 31% of total data center power consumption, but are projected to exceed conventional server power needs by 2027 The last few years have seen AI chip demand skyrocket, with every major player in the industry investing in infrastructure, training, and inference hardware to build out their own data centers and clouds for compute. The assumption was that better, faster chips were the key to unlocking both Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and AI-infused efficiency gains as the world shifts its focus from AI agents to AI operators. The bottleneck that many saw coming but was arguably downplayed is now back in focus: Power limitations may cap future data center growth globally. Not a chip problem, but an energy conundrum by 2030? A recent report by Gartner indicates that AI servers might not have a chip supply problem, but power limitations that could decisively shape future data center expansion, bringing it to a grinding halt by 2030 if not addressed. Gartner estimates while current datacenter power needs are capped at 132 GW, they could reach 290 GW by 2030, indicating that energy constraints will undoubtedly rule the roost in future AI data center planning. "Surging demand for compute-intensive AI workloads is driving unprecedented data center power growth, while AI capacity is now constrained by power availability, making data center power security the new battleground for scaling and protecting margins in the global AI race," said Linglan Wang, Director Analyst at Gartner. The current estimate makes even the most extreme case painted by the electric infrastructure provider, Schneider Electric, look tame. This is why Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has already begun to single out power efficiency as the reason its chips are superior to the competition. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Huang said that data centers and enterprise consumers alike would want the highest number of "tokens per watt" to eke out maximum value in a power-constrained future. Scaling power generation or upgrading grids may arguably be a more complex or time-consuming endeavor than just the AI data center buildout, with Goldman Sachs estimating that as much as $720 billion in grid spending might be needed by the end of the decade to account for the added load that AI data centers will bring to the table. Whether this plays out exactly as projected by Gartner remains to be seen; however, with every industry player indicating that they intend to increase spending on AI infrastructure, the projection that sees current power needs (565TWh) more than double (1200TWh) by 2030 is a very possible scenario, and the industry's focus might shift to delivering both power and efficiency versus raw compute over time to account for the change. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.

Datacentre Power Use set to Surge 26% in 2026: Gartner

Worldwide data center power demand is expected to rise 27% in 2026 and reach 132 gigawatts Electricity consumption for data centers worldwide is projected to grow 26% in 2026, says Gartner. The research firm forecasts that global data center electricity consumption to reach 565 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2026, up from 447TWh in 2025. "Surging demand for compute-intensive AI workloads is driving unprecedented data center power growth, while AI capacity is now constrained by power availability, making data center power security the new battle ground for scaling and protecting margins in the global AI race," said Linglan Wang, Director Analyst at Gartner. Worldwide data center power demand is expected to rise 27% in 2026 and reach 132 gigawatts (GW), up from 104GW in 2025. It is estimated to attain 290GW by 2030, which reflects the unprecedented scale and pace of GenAI boosting demand. AI-optimized servers continue to fuel the increase in data center power consumption. Gartner estimates AI-optimized server adoption will account for 31% of data center power consumption in 2026, and that by 2027 their power consumption will surpass that of conventional servers (see Figure 1). Figure 1: Data Center Electricity Consumption by Segment, Worldwide, 2025-2027 (Electricity Consumption - TWh) Segment 2025 2025 Growth (%) 2026 2026 Growth (%) 2027 2027 Growth (%) Conventional Server 193 0.9 195 1.2 200 2.4 AI-Optimized Server 95 83.6 175 84.2 258 47.8 Cooling and other Infrastructure 159 10.5 195 22.6 243 24.6 All Data Center Power Consumption 447 15.5 565 26.4 702 24.1 The numbers may not add up to totals shown due to rounding. Source: Gartner (June 2026) Energy-Constrained Future With data center power electricity consumption estimated to reach over 1,200TWh by 2030, grid supply will be insufficient to meet the demands of future data center construction, affecting all data center users. "Infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders must prioritize efficiency upgrades and secure grid access. They also need to invest in high-efficiency cooling systems and edge computing to mitigate power constraints and ensure sustainable, scalable growth," said Wang.

Data Center Power Use set to Surge 26% in 2026, Gartner Reports

Electricity consumption for data centers worldwide is projected to grow 26% in 2026, according to Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company. Gartner forecasts global data center electricity consumption to reach 565 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2026, up from 447TWh in 2025. "Surging demand for compute-intensive AI workloads is driving unprecedented data center power growth, while AI capacity is now constrained by power availability, making data center power security the new battle ground for scaling and protecting margins in the global AI race," said Linglan Wang, Director Analyst at Gartner. Worldwide data center power demand is expected to rise 27% in 2026 and reach 132 gigawatts (GW), up from 104GW in 2025. It is estimated to attain 290GW by 2030, which reflects the unprecedented scale and pace of GenAI boosting demand. AI-optimized servers continue to fuel the increase in data center power consumption. Gartner estimates AI-optimized server adoption will account for 31% of data center power consumption in 2026, and that by 2027 their power consumption will surpass that of conventional servers (see Figure 1). Figure 1: Data Center Electricity Consumption by Segment, Worldwide, 2025-2027 (Electricity Consumption - TWh) Segment 2025 2025 Growth (%) 2026 2026 Growth (%) 2027 2027 Growth (%) Conventional Server 193 0.9 195 1.2 200 2.4 AI-Optimized Server 95 83.6 175 84.2 258 47.8 Cooling and other Infrastructure 159 10.5 195 22.6 243 24.6 All Data Center Power Consumption 447 15.5 565 26.4 702 24.1 The numbers may not add up to totals shown due to rounding. Source: Gartner (June 2026) Energy-Constrained Future With data center power electricity consumption estimated to reach over 1,200TWh by 2030, grid supply will be insufficient to meet the demands of future data center construction, affecting all data center users. "Infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders must prioritize efficiency upgrades and secure grid access. They also need to invest in high-efficiency cooling systems and edge computing to mitigate power constraints and ensure sustainable, scalable growth," said Wang.