Data Center Electricity Consumption Set to Grow 26 Percent in 2026

Electricity consumption for data centers worldwide is projected to grow 26% in 2026, according to Gartner. The business and technology insights company forecasts that global data center electricity consumption will 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 battleground 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.

With data center 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 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.