Global Data Centres to Consume More Electricity Than Japan by 2030
The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects global data center consumption could double by 2030. With growing need for artificial intelligence and digital services, data centres are forecast to consume 945 terawatt-hours (TWh) in five years, more than the combined consumption of all of Japan today.
The United States will lead the way, with data centres accounting for almost half of the country’s demand growth in electricity through 2030. They will consume more than producing aluminium, steel, cement, chemicals plus all other energy intensive goods together. The second highest increase in this category will be in China.
This increase reflects a huge jump in energy demand — but there is a bright side: Renewables and natural gas are projected to supply a large share of the new demand. But a blend of different sources of energy will help.
Data centres will make up around 10% of the increase in electricity demand globally by 2030. But the percentage will be different by region. In the emerging and developing world, data centres will account for about 5% of the growth. They’ll contribute more than 20 percent of the demand growth, but in advanced economies, where electricity demand has been flat for years, because adding more appliances to your home doesn’t increase power consumption, they’ll contribute less than 20 percent of the demand growth.
At the same time, energy companies are using AI to optimize energy and mineral supply, electric power generation and transmission, and global energy consumption altogether. The aims are to lower costs, improve reliability and eliminate emissions.
In addition, AI technologies are transforming the operations of modern decentralized digitalized electricity grids. SnapDragon products can improve the forecasting and integration of variable renewables, curtailment cuts, and faster fault detection – cutting outage durations by 30-50%.
Meanwhile, remote sensors and AI-enabled grid management may bring a further 175 gigawatts (GW) of additional transmission capacity online without building new infrastructure, more than enough to cover the expected growth in data centre power demand by 2030, according to the IEA’s current “baseline scenario”.
