Data centre electricity consumption to grow 26% in 2026, says Gartner

Gartner forecasts that global data centre electricity consumption will reach 565 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2026.

Electricity consumption for data centres worldwide is projected to grow 26 per cent in 2026, according to Gartner, which forecasts that global data centre electricity consumption will reach 565 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2026, up from 447 TWh in 2025.

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“Surging demand for compute-intensive AI workloads is driving unprecedented data centre power growth, while AI capacity is now constrained by power availability, making data centre power security the new battleground for scaling and protecting margins in the global AI race,” said Linglan Wang, Director Analyst at Gartner.

Worldwide data centre power demand is expected to reach 132 gigawatts in 2026, up from 104 GW in 2025. It is estimated to attain 290 GW by 2030, which reflects the unprecedented scale and pace of GenAI boosting demand.

AI-optimised servers continue to fuel the increase in data centre power consumption. Gartner estimates AI-optimised server adoption will account for 31 per cent of data centre power consumption in 2026, and that by 2027, their power consumption will surpass even the conventional servers.

With data centre power electricity consumption estimated to reach over 1,200 TWh by 2030, the grid supply will be insufficient to meet the demands of future data centre construction, affecting all data centre users.

“Infrastructure and operations leaders must prioritise 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.

Published on June 10, 2026