Data center power consumption - statistics & facts
Newly built hyperscale data centers, which are becoming increasingly common, have power demands of 100 MW or more, with an annual electricity consumption equivalent to the electricity demand from approximately 400,000 electric cars. The global power consumption of data centers is forecast to more than double between 2022 and 2026. The growth in demand for data center internet services, combined with the more recent integration of artificial intelligence (AI), is driving an increase in the size and processing power requirements of data centers. AI applications are significantly more energy-intensive than traditional online services such as Google search, with ChatGPT queries needing almost 10 times the amount of processing power to run. To help meet rising demand and to not overburden power grids, data centers are strategically placed in areas with robust network infrastructure and reliable power supply.
In 2022, the global electricity consumption from data centers amounted to 460 terawatt-hours and in the highest case scenario, is forecast to more than double to 1.1 petawatt-hours by 2026. Demand has grown year-on-year, with total consumption in 2023 reaching 411 terawatt-hours together with an estimated 1.09 billion compute instances. While traditional data centers have seen a decrease in energy demand, hyperscale data centers have doubled their energy consumption in recent years, with data center power demand growing annually since 2019.
The largest data center markets worldwide by power consumption capacity in 2023 were located in the U.S. state of Virginia, Beijing, China, and London, England. Together, these hubs had a combined capacity of 5404 megawatts, more than the combined capacity of all other electricity consumption of data center markets worldwide, totaling 5.3 gigawatts. The United States, China, the European Union were the regional global leaders of data centers in 2022, with facilities collectively consuming approximately 500 terawatt-hours of electricity. By 2026, data centers in China are forecast to account for the largest electricity consumption by any one country, reaching 300 terawatt-hours.
Driving factors behind increased data center energy consumption
In 2022, the global electricity consumption from data centers amounted to 460 terawatt-hours and in the highest case scenario, is forecast to more than double to 1.1 petawatt-hours by 2026. Demand has grown year-on-year, with total consumption in 2023 reaching 411 terawatt-hours together with an estimated 1.09 billion compute instances. While traditional data centers have seen a decrease in energy demand, hyperscale data centers have doubled their energy consumption in recent years, with data center power demand growing annually since 2019.
Regional impacts and considerations
The largest data center markets worldwide by power consumption capacity in 2023 were located in the U.S. state of Virginia, Beijing, China, and London, England. Together, these hubs had a combined capacity of 5404 megawatts, more than the combined capacity of all other electricity consumption of data center markets worldwide, totaling 5.3 gigawatts. The United States, China, the European Union were the regional global leaders of data centers in 2022, with facilities collectively consuming approximately 500 terawatt-hours of electricity. By 2026, data centers in China are forecast to account for the largest electricity consumption by any one country, reaching 300 terawatt-hours.
