Electricity demand for data centers worldwide is projected to grow 26% in 2026, according to Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company.
Gartner forecasts global data center electricity consumption to 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 battle ground for scaling and protecting margins in the global AI race,” said Ms. 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 (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Data Center Electricity Consumption by Segment, Worldwide, 2025-2027 (Electricity Consumption – TWh)
| Segment | 2025 | 2025 Growth (%) | 2026 | 2026 Growth (%) | 2027 | 2027 Growth (%) |
| Conventional Server | 193 | 0.9 | 195 | 1.2 | 200 | 2.4 |
| AI-Optimized Server | 95 | 83.6 | 175 | 84.2 | 258 | 47.8 |
| Cooling and other Infrastructure | 159 | 10.5 | 195 | 22.6 | 243 | 24.6 |
| All Data Center Power Consumption | 447 | 15.5 | 565 | 26.4 | 702 | 24.1 |
The numbers may not add up to totals shown due to rounding.
Source: Gartner (June 2026)
Energy-Constrained Future
With data center power 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 (I&O) 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.
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