Global data centre electricity demand is now forecast to almost triple by 2035, forcing urgent questions about how to power the AI boom sustainably.
The Forecasts Point To A Steep Rise
New analysis from BloombergNEF suggests data centres could be drawing around 106 gigawatts of power by 2035, up from about 40 gigawatts today. This represents a near threefold increase and marks a sharp upward revision on projections made only months ago. The rise reflects not only the number of new facilities but also the dramatic scale of those now being planned.
Of around 150 new US data centre projects added to one leading industry tracker in the last year, nearly a quarter are expected to exceed 500 megawatts of capacity, and a small number will go past the one gigawatt mark. A 200 megawatt site is now considered a normal hyperscale facility, which highlights the size of the new generation of AI focused builds.
AI Also Driving Up Data Centre Utilisation
Average data centre utilisation is also expected to rise from about 59 per cent today to 69 per cent by 2035. This reflects the steep growth in AI training and inference workloads, which are projected to account for nearly 40 per cent of all data centre compute within the same timeframe.
Gartner’s global forecasts point in the same direction. Analysts expect electricity consumption across all data centres worldwide to increase from 448 terawatt hours in 2025 to 980 terawatt hours in 2030. That means demand is projected to grow 16 per cent in 2025 alone and double over the five year period!
AI Infrastructure Is Driving Bigger And Busier Facilities
One major reason behind these increases appears to be the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure. For example, Gartner notes that while traditional servers and cooling contribute to overall electricity use, the fastest rise comes from AI optimised servers, whose energy consumption is expected to rise from 93 terawatt hours in 2025 to 432 terawatt hours in 2030. These servers will represent almost half of all data centre power use by the end of the decade.
The growth in AI workloads is also reshaping where data centres are built. For example, the traditional clusters near major cities face land and grid constraints, so new facilities are being planned further out in regions where connections are more readily available. In the United States, for example, the PJM Interconnection region, which includes Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, is seeing a large wave of new sites. Texas is experiencing a similar trend, with former crypto-mining facilities being repurposed into AI data centres.
These facilities take many years to deliver, i.e., industry analysts estimate the average timeline for a major data centre from early planning to full operation is about seven years. That means decisions being made now will lock in power demand well into the 2030s, with limited short term flexibility to adjust course.
Grid Operators Face A New Reliability Test
Electricity systems are now being tested by a scale and pace of growth that is difficult to absorb. For example, in the PJM region, data centre capacity could reach 31 gigawatts by 2030, which is almost equal to the 28.7 gigawatts of new electricity generation expected over the same period. This imbalance has already led to concerns from PJM’s independent market monitor, which has argued that new data centre loads should only be connected when the grid can support them reliably.
Texas has also been reported as facing its own set of pressures. For example, forecasts show that reserve margins within the ERCOT grid could fall into riskier territory after 2028 if demand from data centres outpaces the construction of new power plants and transmission capacity.
The US And China
Gartner’s regional analysis indicates that the United States and China will together account for more than two thirds of global data centre electricity consumption by 2030. Europe’s share is expected to rise from 2.7 per cent to around 5 per cent as new facilities are built to support cloud uptake and AI workloads.
More On-Site Power Needed
Given these pressures, analysts have highlighted how many large data centres are likely to secure their own power sources rather than relying entirely on the grid. Gartner’s research on data centre power provisioning warns that utilities are struggling to expand generation and transmission infrastructure quickly enough to support the rate of construction now under way.
In fact, by 2028, Gartner says only about 40 per cent of newly built data centres will rely solely on grid electricity. The remainder will most likely draw on some form of on site generation or long term, dedicated supply arrangements.
Clean Technologies?
Looking ahead to the mid-2030s, around 40 per cent of new data centres are expected to be powered by clean technologies that are not yet commercially mature. These include, e.g., small modular nuclear reactors, green hydrogen systems and advanced geothermal technologies.
A Commercial Impact Too
Gartner also highlights a commercial impact. For example, early adopters of clean on site power options will face higher upfront costs and these costs are likely to be passed on to cloud customers. This implies that the long term economics of cloud computing will be shaped not only by processor performance but also by the availability and price of electricity.
Scotland Exposes The Local Impact Of Global Demand
The UK is now facing its own version of this issue. Research by Foxglove shows how a cluster of eleven large data centres planned in Scotland would demand between 2,000 and 3,000 megawatts of electricity. Scotland’s current winter peak demand is just over 4 gigawatts, which means these projects alone could account for between 50 and 75 per cent of the country’s current peak electricity use.
The list of proposed Scottish facilities includes a 550 megawatt campus at Ravenscraig in North Lanarkshire, several 200 to 300 megawatt sites across locations such as the Scottish Borders, East Ayrshire and West Lothian, and an Edinburgh site at South Gyle with a capacity of around 212 megawatts. The South Gyle plan includes projected annual emissions of more than 220,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, according to figures provided by the developer.
Foxglove notes that the combined demand of these projects is comparable to about two or three times the capacity of the Peterhead gas power station or roughly the combined output of the former Torness and Hunterston B nuclear power plants when both were operating. Scotland’s generation capacity is already close to 20 gigawatts and is expected to more than double by 2030 through growth in renewables, but major upgrades are needed to move electricity to where it is used.
The UK’s Wider Emissions And Planning Context
It’s not surprising, therefore, that environmental groups have raised concerns that such a large new demand from global tech companies could absorb renewable capacity that is needed to decarbonise existing industry and households. In England, research from Foxglove and Global Action Plan estimates that ten of the largest planned data centre projects could together account for around 2.75 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year based on developers’ own figures. This is compared with the carbon savings expected from the electric vehicle transition in 2025.
National Grid’s chief executive has said demand from commercial data centres will increase sixfold over the next decade. The UK government has already designated new AI Growth Zones that must have access to at least 500 megawatts of power and has introduced an AI Energy Council to help plan for future demand. Data centre operators are also being encouraged to locate projects in Scotland and northern England where renewable output is higher, although the grid infrastructure linking these regions to demand centres still requires major investment.
Together, these forecasts show how quickly AI infrastructure is reshaping national and regional energy planning. Governments now face decisions about where large facilities can be built, how much new capacity is required, how on site generation should be regulated and how to ensure that the expansion of data centres aligns with emissions targets rather than undermining them.
What Does This Mean For Your Organisation?
The scale of projected demand now makes it clear that energy planning will become one of the defining constraints on AI growth, not just a technical backdrop. The forecasts point to an industry that will only remain viable if power availability, clean generation and long term cost structures are built into every stage of development. This matters because the growth trajectories do not leave much room for delays. Once the data centres currently in the pipeline begin to switch on, the impact on local and national grids will arrive quickly, which heightens the pressure on governments and operators to prove that the required generation and transmission capacity will be there in time.
For UK policymakers, the situation in Scotland shows how fast these pressures can concentrate. If even a portion of the proposed Scottish sites proceed at the scale outlined, energy planners and regulators will face decisions about how to balance industrial demand, household consumption and renewable deployment. That puts transparency, accurate modelling and realistic emissions assessments at the centre of the conversation. It also places a responsibility on developers to demonstrate how their projects will integrate into wider decarbonisation plans rather than simply relying on headline renewable capacity figures.
There are also direct implications for UK businesses. For example, cloud costs are likely to be shaped increasingly by electricity pricing and by the power procurement strategies of the operators behind the services they use. If data centre owners face higher costs for on site generation or grid upgrades, there is a strong chance that these costs will feed through to SaaS platforms, hosting services and AI tools. Businesses that rely heavily on cloud based analytics or emerging AI workloads may, therefore, face more volatile operating expenses unless the industry secures stable long term energy arrangements. Energy reliability also becomes a resilience issue, as organisations will want confidence that the infrastructure behind their digital tools is not exposed to local grid constraints.
For environmental groups and local communities, the findings highlight the need for early scrutiny of project impacts and firm commitments on emissions reduction pathways. The period between now and the mid 2030s is likely to involve a mix of transitional fuels, large new loads and evolving clean technologies, so there is a real question about how to minimise emissions during that window. The faster that credible alternatives such as battery storage, green hydrogen and advanced clean generation mature, the more manageable that interim period becomes.
What emerges across all of this is a picture of an industry that can expand sustainably only if energy availability and environmental impact are treated as core design requirements rather than afterthoughts. The forecasts make the stakes clear. Data centre growth is not slowing, AI demand is rising and the power systems that support them need rapid structural change if reliability, affordability and sustainability are to keep pace.